Iris Potter, Agent of SHIELD
by Philosophize
Summary: Part 2 of "Witches of SHIELD." Sequel to "Death of Natasha Romanoff." Reunited with Hermione Granger, Iris Potter has taken back her name and is using magic again, but can Iris maintain control or will she become worse than the foes SHIELD sends her against? Will she and Hermione be able to help Iron Man stop the Hulk, the Abomination, and Ivan Vanko? AU; fem!Harry; femslash
1. Sins of the Past

**A/N:** Welcome to the sequel to "The Death of Natasha Romanoff" and part two in the series "Witches of S.H.I.E.L.D." If you haven't read the first part, you should do so — this won't make much sense otherwise. This story begins shortly before that story ends, so you'll see some stuff here that happened "off screen" last time.

The bulk of this story takes place during the events of the movies "Iron Man 2" and "The Incredible Hulk." Timing on them has been adjusted a bit. I try to strike a balance between including enough from the movies to keep you from being lost and not including so much that it's boring (because I'm not making massive changes to their plots). In the end, though, familiarity with those movies will help.

 **A/N 2:** Thanks to Bonnie and Mainsail for proofreading all the chapters in this story and making it better than it was originally.

 **Disclaimer** : I don't own Harry Potter, that's owned by J.K. Rowling. I don't own the Avengers, either. That's owned by Marvel. I _think_ the first place I saw anything like Iris' power here was in Bobmin's "Wizard's Fall".

 **Recommendation:** This chapter's recommended fic is "Harry Potter: The Avenger" by kb0. Short and fun, it's one of my favorite HP/Marvel crossovers by one of my favorite fanfic writers. Harry/Natasha.

* * *

 **Chapter 01 - Sins of the Past**

 **Hospital, Los Angeles. November, 2008.**

Hermione Granger reflected on how much could change in the course of just a few days. A week ago she'd been happily working for Tony Stark, helping to find ways to migrate Stark Industries away from weapons production while surreptitiously trying to figure out how to integrate magic with technology on the side. Three days ago she'd been seriously injured when Obadiah Stane, the second-in-command of Stark Industries, went on a homicidal rampage. Two days ago, she'd discovered that she had been saved from said rampage by Iris Potter, her one-time best friend whom she hadn't seen since Iris disappeared without a word a decade earlier and who was now...

"This is Black Witch," came the voice behind her. "I have the package and am preparing for exfiltration. ETA, 15 seconds."

"Iris!" cried Hermione in exasperation. "I'm a patient, not a package. And you're taking me out the door in a wheelchair, not 'exfiltrating' or whatever you're trying to call it. Honestly!"

Hermione couldn't see how broadly her friend was grinning. "I'm only trying to keep you safe, Hermione. We just found each other, and I don't want to lose you again."

That seemed to mollify the soon-to-be ex-patient. A little. "That's nice and all, Iris, but I hardly think I'm in any great danger leaving the hospital. It's not like anyone is looking to kill me. I'm not sure I can say the same about you, though." As she finished those last words, they went through the hospital's automatic doors and were nearly blinded by the bright sun. _Seems fitting_ , Hermione thought. _It's like we're breaking out into a brand new day._

Hermione was overjoyed at finally being able to leave the hospital, but her good mood dropped a few notches when she saw the vehicle that Iris was wheeling her towards. "What on earth is that, Iris?" she asked.

"That," Iris answered a bit pedantically, "is a car."

Rolling her eyes, Hermione huffed and said, "I can see that, obviously, but what kind of car is it? Where'd you get it? What have you been doing that you can afford something like that? It looks appallingly expensive. And fast...insanely fast. What are you doing with a car like..." Hermione's rant was stopped when Iris bent over her and gently pressed a finger to her lips.

"I can't answer your questions if you never stop asking them," Iris chided with a smile. "I don't honestly know what kind of car it is or how fast it goes. I don't own my own car, so I asked Tony if I could borrow one for today to pick you up. He tossed me a set of keys, told me which color car they went to, and said I could use it for as long as I needed it. I wouldn't be surprised if by this time next week he's forgotten he even owns it."

Hermione shook her head in vexation, though she wouldn't have been able to say if it was directed more at Tony or at Iris. Both had an amazing ability to get on her nerves, and she worried about what might happen if they were both in the same room together for long.

Once she was strapped in tight, Hermione turned to her fellow witch and asked a bit nervously, "You aren't going to drive too fast in this car, are you?"

Iris' response of a lopsided grin accompanied by the statement "Trust me" didn't fill her with confidence. If she remembered correctly, Iris tended to say that sort of thing just before doing something stupid, dangerous, or both. "Please, Iris..."

Without another word, Iris stomped on the accelerator and the car leapt forward at high speed.

"Iriiiiissss!"

* * *

 **Unknown Location, California, United States.**

"How did we **not** get stopped by the police?" Hermione asked, knuckles white from gripping the armrests in the car.

"Oh, I put a subtle notice-me-not charm on the car," Iris answered nonchalantly as she stepped out.

"Wait, wouldn't that affect all other drivers? Wouldn't they be more likely to hit us?" asked Hermione, panicking even more now despite having stopped.

"Of course," answered Iris in a matter-of-fact tone. "That's why I had to drive so fast. To avoid all those other drivers who couldn't see us."

Hermione tried, but she couldn't work her brain around that. It was wrong, she knew it; but she was still too freaked out to think clearly enough to explain why. She felt a bit like she had when Iris took her on that broom ride in sixth year; she never would have imagined that anyone, even Iris, could have recreated that feeling without leaving the ground. Well, mostly without leaving the ground. There had been a couple of intersections where she was pretty sure they'd achieved liftoff for a second or two.

"Where are we?" she asked as she slowly climbed out of the car. "Is this your apartment?"

"One of them," answered Iris as they walked into the building.

"You have more than one? How many? Why?"

"Well, before last week I had quite a few," answered Iris, annoyance clear in her voice, "but I discovered that Nick Fury knew about more than I thought he would. I found him waiting for me in a bolt hole that I had thought was secure but which clearly wasn't. So I've abandoned a bunch and will have to get some more. I may have to give in and start putting them under a Fidelius Charm."

"Why didn't you do that before?" Hermione wondered.

"The Fidelius Charm is pretty strong magic, and I didn't want to do magic that big. Small charms are fine, but bigger magic that requires a lot of power is something I've avoided." By now, they had entered the sparsely furnished and undecorated apartment. There was enough furniture there to use but little else, and none of the smaller items like photographs and magazines which usually indicate that a place is truly lived in.

Hermione looked around briefly, then turned to Iris and gave her a pointed look. "Speaking of magic, there's a long discussion that we need to have. A discussion about you, your magic, why you left... about a lot of things."

Iris bit her bottom lip in thought, an unconscious imitation of something Hermione had always done when they were teenagers. "You're right, we do — and sooner would be better." She looked at her watch before continuing, "It's still early enough. I have a place I go to for privacy. I don't do it often because of the distance, but I'm sure no one else knows about it. We'll be able to talk without being watched or overheard."

"Alright, if you're sure," Hermione answered.

Iris stepped forward and held out her arms, inviting Hermione into an embrace. "Do you trust me?"

Hermione hesitated, and they both noticed. _No, I don't trust her — not really_ , Hermione thought. _After what she's done, how can I? But then again, she did save me, both recently and multiple times when we were teenagers, and she agreed to do whatever is necessary to earn back my trust._

Finally, Hermione met her gaze and said, "I will." Iris smiled in understanding, pulled Hermione in tight, and **spun**.

* * *

 **Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.**

Bruce Banner sighed deeply as he punched out for the day. Work in the soft drink bottling plant was difficult, but it was also anonymous — especially if you could work as a day laborer instead of on the payroll. Even better, the owner was a decent sort who was flexible when it came to someone needing off for a day or two, even without advance notice. This was especially true for workers like Banner, who had significantly above-average skills and education — qualities not in large supply among those willing to work in places like this.

"Good night, Davi," he called out to one of the workers he tended to spend the most time around.

He didn't like to get too close to those he worked beside lest he put them in danger. Davi had a wife and four kids. His wife, Isabella, had invited him over for dinner many times, and he suspected she wanted to set him up with a cousin of hers. He never accepted, of course. All he could think of was tripping over a toy or getting burned by some food, then his vision being filled with green rage while the children screamed in the background. General Ross would have a field day hunting him down after an incident like that.

Bruce shook his head, trying to suppress the images. Most of those who needed an unexpected day off did so to sleep off a hangover. For Banner, the need stemmed from something much more serious. Despite Bruce's best efforts, the _Other Guy_ still insisted on coming out every once in awhile. The most recent incident had happened a week ago, requiring Bruce to be out of work for three days: one day while the Other Guy rampaged through the jungle chasing after some child slavers, another day to recover, and then a third day to make his way back home.

And Bruce was still tired from the exertion, both the chasing down of the slavers and the effort required to return. Bruce was intrigued by the fact that, despite the blind rage which drove the Other Guy, he still seemed to have a basic sense of justice and morality. This had been demonstrated quite effectively by how much effort he'd put into tracking down and hurting those slavers.

 _Where did it come from, though?_ Bruce wondered. _Was it part of the Other Guy's nature, like the rage, or was it borrowed from me? Maybe there's more to Him than I've realized? I'll have to meditate on that tonight. If the morality does come from me at all, it would be wise to do what I can to strengthen that in me, in the hope that it will strengthen in Him as well. If I can't calm Him down, perhaps I can at least learn how to guide Him, maybe even guide His rage, so it's aimed in more appropriate directions._

Bruce lifted his wrist to look at his new heart monitor and saw that his heart rate was still low. He'd been three days without an incident now and intended to keep that going for as long as possible.

Deep within, buried far beneath Bruce's subconscious and well beyond his ability to understand yet, something rumbled. Then it smiled.

* * *

 **Tintagel, England.**

It was both the longest and the gentlest side-along apparition that Hermione had ever experienced. When the squeezing finally stopped, she found herself standing on a rocky ledge about five meters square and halfway between a cliff above and crashing water below. A little ways away to their right looked like a large sea cave. Hermione looked around, but couldn't recognize anything. "Where are we, Iris?"

"Welcome to Tintagel," answered Iris, spreading her arms wide. "Below us is the Iron Gate, where ships can be tied up if the waters are calm enough. Off in that direction is Merlin's Cave and above that is, of course, Tintagel Castle.

"Tintagel?" Hermione half-shouted. "Iris, intercontinental apparition isn't possible!"

"Oh?" Iris asked dryly, one eyebrow raised.

Hermione huffed, "Well, it's not supposed to be. It's supposed to require too much power for any one witch or wizard to be able to do. That's why international portkeys are so expensive — they have to be created by several wizards or witches working together, and even then they are usually magically exhausted from making even one."

The ledge was big enough for two people to sit on, and after the application of a strong cushioning charm, it was soft enough to sit on, too. Once Iris was on the ground and comfortable, she looked up at Hermione and said, "You're right, it is supposed to be impossible. And yet I can do it with ease. I can go much further, too, if I want, though I don't risk doing it too often. And that's one of the reasons why we're here."

"So we definitely can't be seen?"

"Nope," Iris answered. "I've got this ledge under strong notice-me-not and muggle-repelling charms that are tied directly into the area's ley lines. I also added some comfort charms to fend off bad weather. With all of the ambient magic around here, no wizards or witches will realize that something is odd. For all intents and purposes, this ledge doesn't exist in the world anymore. We're more isolated here than we would be on top of Mt. Everest. I come here to think when I need to be away from everyone and everything else. You are the only other person on the planet who knows about it."

Sighing, Hermione lowered herself to the now-softened ledge and said, "OK, so let's talk. What happened to you?"

"Well," Iris began, "if I remember correctly, I told you that in collecting the Deathly Hallows, I did indeed become the Mistress of Death, yes?"

"Yes," Hermione replied. "You also said, though, that it didn't seem to mean anything."

"Actually," Iris corrected, "I left you with that impression, but I didn't say it. I had an idea of what it meant but didn't want to talk about it. I didn't like what it seemed to do to me. It scared me. Even worse, I thought it would scare you."

Hermione inched a bit closer and asked, "What is it?"

"I can't be 100% sure, of course. I mean, it's not like there are standard tests for this sort of thing. All I can do is look at what I know changed and assume that becoming the Mistress of Death was the cause. Tell me," she asked suddenly in an apparent non sequitur, "were you tired after the battle on that last day?"

"Of course I was," Hermione replied, vividly remembering the bone-deep weariness that had afflicted her after the chaotic day of fighting. "I was placing unprecedented demands on my magic — and I seem to recall it was a rather **long** day, at that," she added with a quirk of her lips. Then she sobered. "I was just this side of magical exhaustion by the time it was all over. Why? Weren't you?"

Iris shook her head. "When we were fighting in the Final Battle, I didn't consciously notice it at the time, but I didn't tire at all. If anything, I felt continually refreshed. While I didn't figure it out until later, every time I killed a Death Eater, I absorbed their magical core. Not merely whatever magic they had left, but their core itself — it fused to my own, which meant that their entire magical potential was added to mine. I didn't tire because I kept getting an influx of magic. Once the battle was over, though, my now-expanded core kept filling and filling."

"Oh, my," Hermione whispered.

"And that's not the end of it," Iris said, her own voice going softer. "If you remember, it wasn't only Death Eaters that I killed that day."

Hermione put her hand to her mouth when she choked out "Voldemort!"

"That's right," Iris said. "When I was dead, Dumbledore clued me into some of this. He knew because he had sought the Deathly Hallows in his youth. But he didn't know a whole lot, and I deduced the rest later on. I don't know how accurate my conclusions are, but they seem to fit the evidence."

"Wait, you were dead? You met Dumbledore?"

"Oh, yeah," Iris said while looking embarrassed. "I guess that wasn't something I told you back then. You remember when I went out into the Forbidden Forest and was brought back by Voldemort, who claimed to have killed me?"

"Yes, but then you got up and started fighting, so he was obviously wrong."

"No, he wasn't wrong," Iris said with a sigh. "He killed me. I walked up to him, no wand in my hand, and let him hit me with an _Avada Kedavra_. I was dead. I woke up naked in some sort of afterlife transit station where Dumbledore met me and explained a few things — things he should have told me when I was alive. Quite a few things, in fact." The last statement was muttered quietly, but Hermione heard it and made a mental note to ask about it at a later date.

"Anyway," Iris continued, "I was given a chance to go on and be with my parents or to return and keep fighting. I chose the latter, but Voldemort didn't realize that I was back and so reported me dead."

Hermione had started sobbing quietly by this point. Even though the events had happened a decade ago and Iris was clearly alive and healthy, the idea of her dying — and not just dying, but _voluntarily_ dying without raising a wand to defend herself — hit Hermione like a bludger to the gut. "Why, Iris? Why would you do that?"

Unable to look her in the eye, Iris stared down at her lap and whispered, "As a Horcrux, I needed to die for Voldemort to become mortal. It was the only way to ensure he could be eliminated and give you a chance to grow up and create a happy life for yourself in a free world. I didn't like the idea of leaving you, but I didn't regret for a second what I was doing."

Both witches had to embrace then, needing the emotional support which only the other could provide.

"Alright," Hermione said after she had collected herself. "I'm not done with that subject, but we should go back to the original topic. All of the Death Eaters you killed, you absorbed their magical cores. Then the same happened with Voldemort, right? Not just the magic they had, but their magical potential as well?"

"Right," answered Iris.

"What about the various dark magical creatures — trolls, giants, or even werewolves?" Hermione asked with some trepidation.

"No, I didn't seem to absorb anything from them. I'm guessing that even with werewolves, the dark magic they have has twisted them enough that their cores aren't compatible with mine anymore."

Hermione nodded in relief, agreeing that that sounded plausible. "Did you get anything else? Memories? Skills? Any addiction to dark magic?"

"No, nothing like that," Iris responded. "However, my magical core grew to such a size that it's no longer constrained like it is with most wizards and witches. As I'm sure you know, when you push a high-power spell, you feel a pull in your abdomen, right?"

"Yes," Hermione answered, "because that's where your core can be found — spread through the abdomen."

"Well, not with me," Iris said. "Not anymore, at least. My core is now spread evenly throughout my body. As a consequence, it has enhanced my body — my muscles are stronger, my nerves transmit signals faster, my senses are better, and my brain even processes information faster. I also heal much, much faster than anyone else — I can even see them heal, though I need to concentrate on it for it to happen that fast. I can run faster and for longer than any human. I can lift more, too. I have agility and balance that any Olympian would kill for. This is why I've been so successful as an assassin and agent without using active magic — my magic passively improves everything I do."

Hermione bit her lower lip as she considered all of this. It was a lot of information to take in. "OK," she finally said, "I think I understand what happened to you — or at least what probably happened to you, barring any better explanation. So tell me again why you left?"

Iris looked uncomfortable to be tackling that question, but she had known it was coming. "There were a lot of reasons involved. At the start I had a lot of guilt over the people who died — mostly those who died on our side, because I felt like they died because of me and that I had failed them. But I also felt some guilt over all those I killed myself. I felt like my hands were covered in blood that would never wash off."

Hermione nodded, already knowing Iris' propensity to take on guilt and responsibility for everything that happened around her. Hermione had tried more than once to break her of that, to no effect; clearly it had been impacting her at the end far more than Hermione realized.

"On top of that," Iris continued, "was this new 'power' I got from being the Mistress of Death. I feel like I'm some sort of magical vampire, Hermione. When I think about it much, I disgust myself, so how could others not be disgusted by me as well? I never wanted to see that emotion in anyone's face, least of all yours. Then there's the fact that I don't fully understand this power or what being the Mistress of Death is. What if there's worse that's yet to come? What if someone in the Department of Mysteries decides they want me for experiments to see what's different about my magic?"

Iris had to take a big breath before concluding, "Finally, I realized that I couldn't completely control my power — and I mean my magical power. There is so much of it that doing almost anything is easy. Too easy. You have no idea how much of a rush it is to let loose — to let my magic go wild and bring to reality whatever I'm thinking. It's addictive, almost — and I mean any powerful magic, not simply dark spells that you'd expect to create addiction. So I lose control and then risk succumbing to the temptation to do it more and more. That made me dangerous to be around, and I didn't want to put you at risk."

Hermione reached out to put her hand on Iris' shoulder. "But what about the other day when you went after Stane? You didn't lose yourself then."

Iris laughed bitterly. "Oh, you have no idea, Hermione. I **did** lose control. I was happy to have a chance to fight. I was eager to tear Stane apart. I threatened him. I toyed with him. And when I was done playing, I tortured him by ripping through his mind, stealing all his secrets. I wanted nothing more than to cause him pain and then destroy him. He hurt you, and I was going to avenge you. After that, who knows what I would have done? Tony was there, being a nuisance, so he probably would have ended up as my next target."

"Then why didn't you do that?" Hermione asked. "Why did you stop?"

Iris turned to look into Hermione's eyes. "You. Pepper came to get me because you were going to be taken to the hospital. As soon as she said you were leaving, I lost all interest in Stane. I came back to myself, at least mostly. It was almost like I could feel a 'click' in my brain as my priorities and values shifted to focus on you again."

Hermione squeezed Iris' shoulder in understanding and appreciation. "Thank you. But you're right, that is dangerous. I'm not surprised that you've avoided using powerful magic, but I am disappointed that you left me ten years ago. I'm disappointed because you didn't have the sort of faith that a person should have in a friend."

Iris frowned, apparently not understanding what Hermione meant.

Sighing, Hermione tried again. "Iris, real friends have faith in each other. They have faith that the other will do the right thing and come through for them, even if there are times of stress and separation. Even when they disagree and argue. You should have had faith that I wouldn't turn my back on you. You should have had faith that I wouldn't have been disgusted by you, no matter what you did, because I can tell you now that I wouldn't have."

Hermione turned Iris' head so she faced her again. "And **that's** what's damaged our friendship, Iris — not your leaving, as bad as that was, but your lack of faith and trust in me. You asked me earlier if I trusted you. Well, how can I trust you if you don't trust me?"

Iris' mouth opened in surprise. Of all the things she had blamed herself for over the course of her life, this was one sin that she had committed but never realized... and it was probably the most important one, too. Tears silently running down her face, she leaned against Hermione until their foreheads touched, a position similar to the one Iris had adopted when she first encountered Hermione after she'd been injured by Stane.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry," she kept repeating. "I didn't realize. I was only thinking of myself — of trying to protect myself from being hurt."

Hermione rubbed Iris' back while she cried. She hadn't forgiven Iris yet, not by a long shot; but at least Iris was finally starting to understand. Hermione could see why Iris would be so desperate to protect herself — the decade plus she had spent with the Dursleys had damaged her, yet that didn't excuse her choices. The two of them had spent more than enough time together that she should have known that she didn't need to protect herself like that from Hermione of all people.

This was only the start of their reconciliation and healing, but it was a good beginning.

* * *

 **Moscow, Russia.**

Ivan Vanko seethed while watching a TV news report about Tony Stark. His father, Anton, was dying in the other room. He himself wasn't in the best of health, not after having spent so much time in Russia's brutal prison system. He looked around at the poor, dilapidated hovel he and his father lived in. The two of them were smart, educated, skilled, and inventive, yet what did they have to show for it? Where was their wealth? Where were their accolades?

Ivan looked back at the television, watching Tony Stark parade around like some sort of hero — all because of a suit of armor. _How did that make him a hero?_ Ivan asked himself. _Stark's armor is powered by technology he wasn't responsible for creating or developing. Not even Stark's father was responsible for it —_ _ **my**_ _father was! Howard Stark_ _ **stole**_ _the technology and then had my father deported to cover up his theft!_

 _Tony Stark is a thief and the son of a thief,_ Ivan concluded. _His wealth is based on theft. His fame is based on theft. His accolades are based on theft. Tony Stark has stolen everything he has, and much of it was stolen from the Vanko family, now reduced to two men living in squalor._

Ivan took a long draw from his cigarette. _Someone needs to teach Tony Stark a lesson. Someone needs to teach him that even thieves like him can be stolen from... that his suit of iron doesn't make him invincible. He's a man, not a god — and all men bleed. But who? And how?_

Loud coughing from the other room interrupted Ivan's reverie about getting revenge on Tony Stark. The end was coming soon for Anton, and he needed to be there by his side. Stubbing out the rest of his cigarette, Ivan Vanko rose slowly, reluctant to face what he expected would be his last minutes with his father.

 _Someone will pay for all that we have suffered_ , he vowed to himself and his father. _I will see that justice is done._

* * *

 **Tony Stark's Home, Malibu, California**

Announcing that he was Iron Man, alongside shifting his entire company away from weapons production, was causing Tony Stark to reflect on the past. He wasn't a sentimental person ordinarily, and he loathed thinking much about his father, but right now he felt almost compelled to take a stroll down memory lane by flipping through old company yearbooks. _I suppose it makes some sense to take stock of where the company's come from before launching it and myself in a new direction_ , he mused. _No matter how new and bright we try to make the future, we can't entirely escape our past, can we?_

His hand froze when he saw the cover of the 1974 yearbook and the title emblazoned on the cover:

 **Stark Expo 1974**.

Tony remembered that expo. He remembered how his father loved the Stark Expos. Howard Stark had started them in 1943 in order to introduce the country to the latest technology, and they had continued down through the years. The 1974 Expo's theme was "City of the Future," but unfortunately the technology of the time hadn't been up to Howard Stark's vision or standards, so the event floundered and it had never been held again.

Tony thought about all of that for a couple of minutes. Technology. Future.

 _Isn't that what I'm trying to do now with Stark Industries?_ he asked himself. _Instead of making weapons to destroy things and kill people, I want us to create consumer products that will make people's lives easier. I'm trying to make a better life in the future through new technology. What better way to demonstrate this to the world than through a revival of the Stark Expo! And, unlike my father's 1974 Expo,_ _ **my**_ _technology will be advanced enough to meet_ _ **my**_ _vision!_

* * *

 **S.H.I.E.L.D. Facility, Unknown Location.**

Nick Fury leaned over his desk and looked across the files he had arrayed before him: Iris Potter. Tony Stark. Bruce Banner.

All were powerful individuals. All were powerful egos, too — none of them were good at being team players. Yet Nick Fury wanted to do exactly that with them: make them team players. In fact, he wanted them to play on the same team, together. He wanted them to join something that would become much bigger and better than the sum of its parts so they could protect the world. _Some people will say I'm crazy_ , he admitted, _but I've got a feeling in my gut that we're going to need a bit of crazy on our side before too long._

He looked again at Iris Potter's file and thought about another name: Hermione Granger. _She doesn't have the ego problem, at least, but on the other hand she hasn't proven herself in a fight, either — not against the sorts of threats that I have to deal with, at any rate. Once I get her into S.H.I.E.L.D., I can observe her more closely and consider including her as well._

Only a few, select individuals even knew of the existence of his Avengers Initiative, and even fewer knew exactly what it entailed. Fury was keeping the project as close to the vest as possible because he knew that naysayers would scuttle it before it got off the ground. He needed it together and operational before it was announced — that way, it would be much harder to kill.

Thinking back, Fury remembered how Howard Stark had been such a driving force behind the supersoldier program which eventually produced Captain America. That had been the beginning — the genesis of remarkable individuals who were called upon to do remarkable things to protect the rest of humanity. His Avengers Initiative was, in Fury's mind, simply the logical extension of Howard Stark's pioneering work.

 _I wonder what Howard would say, though, if he could see_ _ **this**_ _roster of super soldiers_...

* * *

 **Los Angeles, California, USA. Late November, 2008.**

Hermione read over the latest letter from Hannah Longbottom. She and Hannah hadn't known each other well in Hogwarts despite being in the same year, but after the Hufflepuff had gotten together with Neville and eventually married him, the two witches had formed a close friendship. It also helped that she was a good letter writer; unlike so many others from their class in Hogwarts, Hannah was good about keeping her up to date on a wide variety of news and events.

Unfortunately, her letters in recent months had not been filled with good news or glad tidings. Hermione had walked away from magical Britain several years earlier, in part because of the absence of Iris, but in even larger part because of what she believed to be the ultimate failure of the Light Side in the Second Blood War. Voldemort had been defeated, but as had happened after the First Blood War which ended with the murder of Iris' parents, the ideals of the Blood Purists had neither been killed nor defeated.

It could have been worse — unlike in the aftermath of the First Blood War, there was no Lucius Malfoy using his gold to corrupt the ministry. Nevertheless, the corruption was there; it was simply moving more slowly. Some might say that it was moving more carefully. Marked Death Eaters had been removed from positions of political and cultural power after the Final Battle, but not all those who had facilitated Voldemort's terrorism and later control over the Ministry of Magic had been marked, and no one had ever bothered to try to discover who those unmarked supporters and sympathizers were — not even within the Ministry itself.

So, despite being on the winning side, Hermione was forced to watch magical government and society start sliding back towards blood purity, oligarchy, corruption, and, she feared, eventually another bigoted, fascist government. She tried to warn people, to explain what all the signs were pointing to, but too few believed her. Eventually she'd had enough and left.

Hannah was one of those who believed her, and that's one reason why she wrote such detailed letters. Every missive contained at least some information that she thought Hermione would find relevant, but in recent months that seemed to be about all her letters contained. Fear was growing again, much like it had the two times Voldemort was moving behind the scenes, preparing to take over. People were disappearing, another hallmark of Voldemort's rise to power; but curiously, this time those who were going missing seemed to be the old, marked Death Eaters.

Because of their exclusion from the halls of power, few paid them much attention, but now the numbers of them missing had grown too great to ignore. Some thought that it was radical muggleborn who were exacting some belated revenge against purebloods. Hannah and her best friend, Susan Bones, were worried that the Death Eaters were dropping out of sight in order to work in secret on some plan — and any plan of theirs would not be good for everyone else. Because Susan went into the DMLE to continue her murdered aunt's legacy, Hermione was inclined to believe her.

She was so glad that she wasn't there to have to live through that again, but at the same time she feared for the friends she had left behind. _What will become of them?_ she asked herself. _Many will probably fight, assuming they're given enough warning to prepare themselves. How many will die this time?_

She just wished she were in a position to do something to help...


	2. Endings and Beginnings

**Recommendation:** Story recommendation for this chapter is "Browncoat, Green Eyes" by nonjon. There are a few HP/Firefly crossovers out there, but I think this is the best. It takes place shortly after "Serenity" and does a nice job of integrating the plot points established in that movie with a plausible scenario of what might have happened to magicals if they'd been forced to flee Earth like the muggles did.

* * *

 **Chapter 2 - Endings and Beginnings**

 **S.H.I.E.L.D. Facility, Los Angeles. December, 2008.**

The memorial service — or "funeral," as Iris wanted to call it — for Natasha Romanoff had been fairly bland, but interesting if you paid attention to what the speakers did and did not say about their "deceased" colleague. Hermione certainly paid attention. She had to catch up on ten years of Iris' life, and the people at S.H.I.E.L.D. had known her for most of those ten years. The fact that few if any of them **really** knew her at all despite how much time she had been there was both disturbing and depressing, but Hermione was determined to get whatever information she could.

She had been thinking about the wake Tony Stark would be holding for Natasha that evening when she and Iris were approached by Nick Fury. It was a welcome interruption — it was strange enough that Iris was attending her own memorial service, albeit under a different name, but to attend your own wake seemed morbid. She could tell, though, that it was the sort of thing that would appeal to Tony, and it looked like Iris would go along with it. She shook her head, wondering what poor Pepper must be thinking of it all.

Nick Fury was accompanied by Phil Coulson and Maria Hill. "Iris Potter," he half-asked, half-stated.

"Yes," Iris responded.

A small, amused smirk appeared on Fury's face. He held out his hand and said, "I'm Nick Fury. Welcome to S.H.I.E.L.D. Let's get you over to the conference room where you can officially meet the people you'll be working with."

He then turned to the other witch and held out his hand. "Hermione Granger? Nick Fury. I saw you in the hospital, but you weren't awake at the time, and I don't think we've been formally introduced yet."

Hermione didn't entirely trust the man — he set off too many warning flags for her taste — but she politely shook his hand. "While my agents meet with Ms. Potter in the conference room," he continued, "I was wondering if you would give me a few minutes of your time. I know that you've been approached about coming to work with us, and I'd like to talk to you about the sort of work that you could be doing."

Hermione's eyebrows rose in surprise at this. She had been inclined against taking the job — she liked Tony Stark a lot and didn't know if she could trust S.H.I.E.L.D. — but there was no way that the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. would normally try to sell a job to a potential employee at her level. There was more going on here than met the eye, and she was too intrigued to say no.

Which was exactly what Director Fury had been counting on. She was right to not trust him; she just didn't distrust him nearly enough.

Hermione nodded, and he led her in the opposite direction of where Iris was going with Coulson and Hill. "I have a small office here in this facility, and I think we'll be more comfortable there," Fury said as they walked.

* * *

 **Nick Fury's Office, S.H.I.E.L.D. Facility.**

Just after they stepped into the office, Fury's mobile phone sounded an alert, and he looked concerned when he read the message. "I'm sorry, Ms. Granger," he said apologetically, "but this is a bit of an emergency. It should only take a few minutes. If you'll excuse me?"

"Of course," Hermione said, "I can wait here." She sat down in one of the chairs while Fury left. Not two minutes later, someone else entered the office looking rushed and confused.

"Isn't Director Fury here? Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm Hermione Granger — I'm here for a meeting with Director Fury. He was called away for some emergency, but he said he'd be back shortly. I'm sure you can wait."

The agent looked torn about what to do, but finally said, "No, I better not. I just need to leave this file for him. It's critical that he read this information ASAP. The potential for scientific advancement is huge, but lives are at stake, too." With that, he dropped a thin file folder on Fury's desk and quickly walked out.

Alone in the office of Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., with the door closed and perhaps only a few minutes of privacy, Hermione Granger simply couldn't resist. Looking around as if she expected someone to be watching, she quickly spun the folder around and read the cover:

 **HULK: THREAT LEVEL RED**

She opened it up and started skimming the contents, occasionally stopping at interesting pages to read something a bit more closely. She relied more on her eidetic memory than she had in years and learned about Bruce Banner, his experiments in gamma radiation and the ensuing accident, the monstrous Hulk he became when enraged, and the current efforts to create a treatment that would allow him to exercise greater control over his emotions and their resulting manifestation.

There was also information about creating a treatment that would provide all the positive benefits (strength, endurance, speed) without all the disadvantages (rage, loss of control), but she had to force herself to put the folder back down before someone came back and caught her.

 _Control_ , Hermione thought as she sat back down and tried to will herself into looking innocent. _That's exactly what Iris needs — an ability to control her stronger emotions, especially her negative ones. There's a lot of scientific potential here in gamma ray research, but the consequences are horrible if they can't be controlled._

A noise outside the door informed Hermione that she'd made the right choice about stopping when she did. By the time Nick Fury had re-entered his office, she had schooled her face into looking like she had been sitting there bored the entire time. "Oh," she said, as if remembering something important, "someone stopped by and left a file on your desk. They thought it was important."

"I'm sure they did," Fury responded in a slightly jaded tone as he walked behind his desk. "Everyone always thinks everything they do is important. And they're right — the work that every member of S.H.I.E.L.D. does is vitally important for world security. Sitting at the top, though, I have to have rather stringent standards for what **I** consider important, otherwise I'd never get anything done." He looked briefly at the file, then tossed it carelessly to the side before leaning forward on his desk and focusing on her.

Hermione hoped that she didn't give herself away by allowing her eyes to widen at that. _If information like that can be casually set aside as not critical_ , she wondered, _then what other kinds of information crosses his desk? What kinds of things do people here work on?_

"Now," he began, "I know that Maria Hill has already talked to you about having you work for us doing research and strategic intelligence analysis. However, I also know that she didn't go into a lot of specifics. I can, because I know you'll insist on those specifics in order to make a decision — which is a good attitude to have, by the way. I also think you'll find the details interesting."

When she nodded, Fury continued, "Your duties would be fairly wide-ranging because we intend to create a brand new division within S.H.I.E.L.D.: **W** izardry, **A** lchemy, and **N** ecromancy **D** epartment, code named W.A.N.D. We'd like you to eventually head that department, as a matter of fact, though only after you've spent enough time working within S.H.I.E.L.D. to understand how we operate and what we do. In fact, you'd probably spend time in more than one department in order to give you a thorough familiarity with S.H.I.E.L.D. as a whole. I don't like my department heads to be too isolated from each other. They need to be able to work together in a crisis, and that requires familiarity both with each other as individuals and with what the other departments do.

"As director of W.A.N.D., you'd be one of the primaries whenever S.H.I.E.L.D. has to deal with magical threats or problems, and you'd rank just below the level of assistant director. This department will have its own research section dedicated to trying to better understand magic: how it can be used, what its limits are, how it can be countered, and how it can be integrated with modern technology. You'd work closely with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s main research division, but you'd be independent of them because we do know enough to realize how different magic can be."

Hermione was trying not to salivate, but that was exactly the sort of work she most wanted to do. If it weren't for the fact that she was already doing so much of that for Tony Stark, especially now that he had been informed about magic and she didn't have to sneak around to do her experiments, she'd jump at this opportunity. The question was, would S.H.I.E.L.D. be able to do more for her in such research?

There was, however, an even more important question she had to ask. "How are you going to get around the Statue of Secrecy."

Fury smirked. "The Statute is written rather narrowly. It doesn't mandate the concealment of all types of magic or supernatural powers, just certain ones. W.A.N.D. will have a broad mandate, covering quite a lot that isn't restricted by the Statute - and the things which are covered will be kept more highly classified than the rest. This includes the status of you and Potter as witches. Even within S.H.I.E.L.D., few people will know about who and what you are."

Hermione nodded, pleased to hear that.

"One thing you will need to keep in mind is that the main duty of S.H.I.E.L.D. always has and always will be defense: protecting the innocent from threats too big for regular law enforcement agencies and the military. I know research is what interests you, but I'm afraid that wouldn't be your only job. It wouldn't even be your main job, except at times when the overall threat level is low. You'd be responsible for helping protect people all over the world from magical threats of many different kinds. You'd be involved with using magic to counter non-magical threats, where possible. This means you'd also be in charge of any magical operatives and their missions, unless of course they are tasked with non-magical operations."

"You mean, like Iris."

"Yes," Fury answered, "exactly like Iris. And since you brought her up, let's talk about her."

Hermione suddenly felt worried.

"Natasha Romanoff was always a good operative," Fury explained. "Whether it was carrying out assassinations of high-value targets like terrorist leaders, infiltration of criminal networks, or the liberation of key information from secure facilities, we could always count on her to get the job done quickly, efficiently, and quietly. She was one of the best, there's no doubt about it."

Fury paused to take a thick file folder out of his desk and only continued after opening it. "I always knew about her magic — not everything, but I knew enough. We were never as ignorant of the magical world as your leaders wanted to believe, but so long as you didn't pose a threat, we were content to leave you alone and not pry too deeply into what you were doing or how you were doing it."

Flipping through the pages of the folder, Fury went on, "So I knew who Potter was. I knew she used small-scale magic when she worked. I knew that there was something different about her or her magic, since she had superior physical and mental skills that other magicals lacked. And I knew that she was avoiding using the full scope of her powers for some reason. It was always my hope that, whatever the reason was, she'd be able to get past it. That she'd become an even bigger asset to S.H.I.E.L.D. by being able to use her full powers to protect others from significant threats."

Closing the file back up and meeting Hermione's gaze, Fury said, "I'm not so sure, now. I trusted Natasha Romanoff to maintain control. To stay cool, calm, and collected no matter what threat she was dealing with. Only time will tell if Iris Potter will be as reliable, but it's clear that she has some control issues. That's where I'm hoping you can help. We don't have any other magicals working for S.H.I.E.L.D. so we don't have anyone who can understand what she's going through. That's a serious problem that I want to fix."

Fury suddenly looked uncomfortable, then added, "I need to be honest with you here. I've spoken briefly with Iris about her control issues, and I've told her I trust her. And I do, but a person in my position can't afford to trust others 100% without ever having any sort of backup or contingency plan. I also can't afford to tell someone like her that I _don't_ trust her — that would undermine her self-confidence too much. So while I trust her, I also have doubts, and your involvement would put my mind at ease."

Fury stopped at that point and simply waited for Granger's reaction.

"Just so I understand, Director Fury," Hermione finally responded, "you want me to spend time learning how S.H.I.E.L.D. operates and to eventually take charge of a new department that will become responsible for magical research and operations. All through that, though, you also want me to help Iris with her magic — to help her understand it, use it, and control it. Correct?"

"Yep, that's it in a nutshell," Fury said.

"Why me, though?" Hermione asked. "Surely you have more qualified people who can run an important department? Surely you have researchers with more experience? Is all this just for Iris' sake?"

Fury smiled as he responded, "Those are good questions, Ms. Granger, and you're right to be suspicious. To be perfectly honest, my original interest in you was because of Iris. She could be a huge asset, but having you close to monitor and help her will make her success more likely. However, once I started looking at you more closely and learning about what you can do, I saw a lot more potential than I first realized."

Pulling out a new file folder, which Hermione quickly recognized as being about her, Fury continued, "We can certainly get more qualified and more experienced people to act as a department head, but none of them have magic. We can teach you everything else you need, but we can't teach our own people magic. That puts you at the top of my list. I can assign you an assistant who will help keep you from screwing up too badly, and as long as no major magical threats come along right away, you'll have a chance to learn on the job. As to research, we don't have any other magicals at all, so you'd be the only one, not simply the most qualified."

"So I'm being offered this on my own merits, not simply because I'm Iris' friend?" Hermione asked.

"Ms. Granger, even without all the other duties I'd like you to eventually take on, asking you to come here to work with Iris **would** be on your own merits," Fury explained in a determined voice. "You're the most qualified person I know of to help her, and I think that's something we'll need. It will be an important job. The other duties mean that your value to us goes way beyond Iris. S.H.I.E.L.D. does not hire people just because they are friends or family of someone. Our job is far too important to be hauling around dead weight, so if that's what you're worrying about, don't."

Hermione sat back, thinking hard about what he had said. "Thank you, Director Fury, that makes me feel a lot better. And thank you for telling me so much about what you have in mind — I'm sure it's not common for you to tell outsiders about your organization's plans. I'm afraid that I can't give you an answer right now because I do enjoy my job at Stark Industries, and my prospects there are even better now that Tony has been informed about magic. Going forward, I won't have to hide my investigations into how magic and technology can be combined."

She paused for a moment, then added, "But I'll admit that I'm more interested now than I was before. I'll have to think a bit."

Fury looked disappointed. "I understand, Ms. Granger. Tony's an interesting guy, and I'm sure that he gives you interesting work. I hope that you'll remember that our people get interesting toys and work as well. Unlike with him, though, at the end of the day we often see how much of a difference we make when it comes to protecting innocent lives and property. We aren't perfect, but we do make a difference."

Standing, Fury motioned to his door. "Let me escort you back to the reception area where you can wait for Iris. I doubt that her meeting will last too much longer."

* * *

 **Ops Center, S.H.I.E.L.D. Facility.**

A few minutes after leaving Hermione Granger in the reception area, Nick Fury was standing behind Maria Hill in the facility's ops center. Sitting at her console, Hill had two monitors active; one showed Hermione sitting and waiting for Iris while the other was running the recording of her actions in Fury's office while he was out. Along the bottom of that screen were readouts of her vitals: body heat, pulse, respiration, etc.

"It looks like she acted exactly as you expected," Hill observed while her screen ran the recording of Hermione as she flipped through the file on Bruce Banner and his alter-ego, the Hulk.

"You sound surprised," Fury responded absently, then added, "Look at how fast she's going through the file. Eidetic memory, or at least something close to it, just like we thought. I wonder if her magic has enhanced her memory or mental processing speed at all? I'll bet you anything she's memorized that file and is already thinking of how the research can be improved and whether any of it can be applied to Iris."

"According to her file, she seems to be a strong proponent of following the rules and respecting authority," Hill explained. "Her old schoolmates described her as a teacher's pet who was always harping on about the rules and listening to teachers. At Stark Industries, she's almost obsessive about following workplace procedures and has written up other employees numerous times for violating those procedures."

"All true," Fury said as he rewound the video so he could zoom in on her face while rewatching a particular segment. "But you also have to go beyond the files sometimes. For example, look at her friendship with Iris. All during her time with us, Natasha was good at following orders, but she didn't hesitate to ignore orders, protocol and procedures when she was convinced she was right. It's what made her simultaneously one of our best and one of our most infuriating agents."

Hill snorted in agreement; she and Natasha — well, Iris now — had butted heads quite a few times over that particular tendency of hers.

"Now if Granger were the sort of person you described, how on earth would she get along with someone like Iris?" Fury asked.

Hill had to think for a moment, then answered, "They wouldn't, at least not well. One would probably end up killing the other, in fact."

"Exactly," Fury said, sounding a bit triumphant. "And since we know how Iris is, we should be able to conclude that Granger isn't exactly like what her file makes her appear to be. I'm sure she was an annoying little teacher's pet as a kid, but that was two decades ago. It wouldn't surprise me if she changed after she started with magical school. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if Iris is part of why she changed."

"And her behavior in Stark Industries?" Hill asked.

"I took a closer look at the incidents in question, and almost all of them involved safety issues," Fury said as he turned to look at the live image of the reception area, noting that Hermione was biting her bottom lip and looked to be deep in thought. It occurred to him that he'd seen pretty much the same look on Iris' face many, many times and wondered how much they had influenced each other when they were teens.

"So she's a stickler when it comes to safety issues, but is willing to break the rules in other matters," Hill concluded.

"Yep," Fury agreed, "and given her work as a researcher, I made a bet that one of those areas where she was willing to break the rules was when it involved acquiring knowledge — and I was right. That's good for us because we can offer a lot more to scratch that itch of hers than Stark can. We just need to keep leaving out bait for her."

"So you're confident that she'll agree to join?" Hill wondered. "She keeps telling us 'no'."

"Absolutely," Fury said with conviction. He didn't know her personally, but he knew her type. Researchers and academics like her needed to fully understand a problem or issue before being willing to commit to any particular course of action. He had given her a lot to think about and knew that he couldn't expect an answer right away. He hoped, though, that he had provided enough bait for her to at least be positively inclined to join up. If he achieved that, then some subtle and regular pressure should ultimately see her becoming a part of S.H.I.E.L.D. "She gave me exactly the response I expected from her. She'll agree eventually. The only question is how long it will take... and whether it will be in time."

* * *

 **Reception Area, S.H.I.E.L.D. Facility.**

Hermione couldn't stop thinking about all of the things that Nick Fury had told her. _Magical research and operations? Department Director, right near the top of S.H.I.E.L.D. command? Making new discoveries as well as making a difference in the world — making it a better and safer place? It's practically everything I've ever wanted_ , she thought, _and while the initial contact may have been because of Iris, I'd be getting it on my own merits._

 _It sounds too good to be true, though_ , she thought before noticing Iris' approach. "How did it go?" she asked as she stood.

"Fine," Iris answered, "but a bit weird. I mean, I'm introducing myself to them and they're being introduced to me, but we all already know each other. And most of them were aware of that — only a couple are being kept in the dark, and I've changed my looks enough that they didn't seem to know. It's just... weird." She grimaced, apparently annoyed but unable to do anything about it.

"At least you changed your mind about wearing glasses in order to look different," Hermione pointed out. "You look much better without glasses now, and I can't imagine anyone believing that you're a different person just because you have glasses on."

Iris shuddered at the thought of wearing glasses again. She had been so happy when she got surgery to correct her vision and never wanted to go back to clunky glasses hanging off of her face.

"It's just a one-time thing, though, right?" Hermione offered.

"Unfortunately, no," Iris answered. "For a while, at least, I'm going to have to avoid revealing how much I know about people here. I can't be as familiar with them as I might normally be. Though on the bright side, I've always tended to be reserved and professional, so maybe it won't be such a problem."

Hermione didn't know whether to be gladdened or depressed by that, so she let it drop. "Where to now?"

Iris' annoyed demeanor immediately brightened. "Why, we go to my wake, of course!"

Hermione rolled her eyes, but she willingly let herself be dragged to the car and driven to Tony Stark's home.

She sat quietly during the trip, her mind returning to what happened in Nick Fury's office. His description of the job waiting for her was amazing, but was it too good to be true? _I don't trust him_ , Hermione thought, _but that doesn't mean he lied. I believe that the job is real and the duties are real. I believe that the job is important and worth doing. Just because he didn't lie, though, doesn't mean he told me everything._

Hermione's thoughts took her back to another manipulative old man — a man who undeniably fought against evil, but who didn't always shy away from grey and underhanded tactics to accomplish his goals. A master of lying with half-truths and careful wording, Albus Dumbledore had caused a lot of harm with his secrets and manipulations — perhaps even more than she had realized, judging by Iris' stray comment while they had been at Tintagel.

 _Misleading others wasn't the only thing he did, though, was it?_ Hermione realized. _He also invested a lot of time and effort into controlling Iris to make sure she followed the path he wanted. He even used me and Ron, for example by forbidding us from writing her during the summers when she most needed the support of friends._ Hermione scowled at that memory. It hadn't been her finest hour, accepting his excuses at face value and thereby helping subject her best friend to weeks of emotional turmoil. Twice!

 _Would Nick Fury do the same?_ Hermione snorted internally at that question. _Of course he would. The question is,_ _ **is**_ _he doing the same? Is there an extra reason behind his job offer — a reason which involves using me to control or manipulate Iris? Perhaps, but if so then I can't see it. And even if it's there, that doesn't mean the job still isn't worthwhile. I would just need to be careful and not let myself be used as a pawn against her. If he wants to control her, he'll try to do it with or without me helping. Where can I do the most good to help her — by being on the inside or the outside?_

"You look like you're awfully deep in thought, Hermione. Did everything go OK in your meeting with Fury?"

Hermione smiled as she looked over at Iris. "Yes, everything went fine. He gave me more details than Hill did, and it made the job sound a lot more interesting."

"Oh?" Iris asked with a smirk.

"Yes, yes," Hermione answered. "I'll admit, I'm more interested now than I was before. But that doesn't mean that I'm accepting the job offer. I've got a lot to think about before I'll even consider saying yes. You know I don't trust Fury, and I'm not sure about S.H.I.E.L.D. in general, even if you do work for them."

"I understand," Iris responded, "but as you know, it's in the nature of such an organization to be secretive. They don't trust very easily or very much — they can't afford to. Unfortunately, that means that at the least they don't seem trustworthy themselves.

Hermione frowned. They'd had this conversation before, and she never came away from it entirely satisfied. Yes, she knew that secrecy was necessary and trust difficult to maintain, but that didn't mean she liked it or was willing to work in such an environment. Even with the usual concerns about industrial espionage and confidentiality, Stark's research department was relatively open by comparison. On the other hand, S.H.I.E.L.D. was doing an important job. She could probably help a lot, not to mention learn a lot.

And then, there was the fact that she might be able to help Iris... Hermione stared out the window, watching the scenery zip by, completely unsure about what to do.

* * *

 **Tony Stark's House, Malibu, California.**

Iris had told Hermione that she was willing to go to a wake for herself because she recognized that she needed to change in order to become a better person — a person more worthy of Hermione. Part of that had to include reaching out and learning how to connect to other people rather than remaining inwardly focused, brooding and cold. It would be a tough change to make, considering she was trying to alter habits she'd developed back when she lived with the Dursleys.

But it was important for Hermione, so she was willing to put in the effort. Unfortunately, Tony Stark was trying her patience and starting to make her regret that particular promise. She thought he was probably OK in small doses, but she'd reached her limit forty minutes earlier — about five minutes into their conversation. At first, in an effort to be generous, she thought that maybe his announcement last week that he was Iron Man might be going to his head; soon, though, she concluded that he was always like this.

"So, let me get this straight," Tony continued, either completely oblivious to her annoyance or just not caring. "You don't know how magic works, you don't know where magic comes from, you don't know how magic is generated... do you know anything at all about magic?"

Iris narrowed her eyes at Stark, letting her growing frustration get the better of her. "I know that I can turn you into a toad — one that would pass any test that any biologist would care to use. I know that I can summon actual fire from Hell itself, impose my will on it, and force it to consume anything and everything in its path — including entire cities, if I allowed it. I know that I can almost instantly transport myself to the other side of the planet and back again."

Tony at least had the decency to gulp audibly before jumping back into his questions. "When you say 'almost' instantaneously, how much time passes? How much difference is there between, say, a trip across the continent and a trip to the other side of the planet? We could learn a lot from data like that and perhaps come up with a technological equivalent. Could you teleport yourself to the moon? Imagine how much easier constructing a moon base would be... Hey, Jarvis, what would it take to get control of property on the moon?" And with that, Tony was gone, off on another tangent that he hopefully wouldn't return from for a while.

Looking around at the crowd, Iris wondered where all the people had come from. Most were probably only here because they heard that there was a party being hosted by Tony Stark, not because they knew or cared about someone named Natasha Romanoff. She saw quite a few attractive women wearing skimpy bikinis and lounging around the pool. Iris reflected that a few weeks ago, she might have spent some time admiring those women. In fact, there had been a time not too long ago when she might have tried to take one of them home for a one night stand — one of many futile attempts to forget her past.

Today, though, these women weren't as appealing as they once would have been. Today, there was only one woman who interested her, and she realized that she was much happier because of it. She would have been even happier if she had believed that woman to be thinking something similar.

Reaching out to take a drink from one of Tony's robots as it passed by, she looked around to see if she could find that woman and hopefully join her for a bit.

* * *

Hermione had originally thought the idea of hosting a wake and then inviting the subject of said wake to be a bit tacky, to say the least. Tony Stark could be charming, but mostly in small doses, so she hadn't expected to enjoy the party at his home. She was quite happy to find out that she was wrong, but truth be told, she thought that it was only because Tony had been distracted by something shiny and new (namely, Iris), which meant that Hermione could spend her time with someone else: Pepper Potts.

Previously, Hermione had only ever seen Pepper at a distance and in passing, so she honestly had never given her much thought. She was Tony's secretary and personal assistant and helped make the company run, but she wasn't involved in research. Now, though, Hermione was coming to see that there was quite a good brain in the woman's head. Pepper would never be a scientist or researcher like herself or an inventor like Tony, but she was observant, she knew how to ask the right questions, and she understood the answers she got.

 _It's little wonder why Pepper had become so integral to the running of Stark Industries. People who underestimate Pepper do so to their own disadvantage_ , Hermione thought to herself as she took another glass from one of the passing robots. _Dummy, I think Tony calls this one. Merlin, he's worse at naming things than I am!_

Hermione and Pepper had spent the past forty minutes talking about magic and Hogwarts. Fortunately, Tony and Pepper had been informed about the existence of magic in the wake of the Stane attack — it not only enabled her to be honest with Pepper now, but it had also allowed her to tell Tony about her efforts to work with both magic and his technology, something that truly excited him, even if he couldn't understand the magic.

Hermione had given Pepper an overview of their adventures, and despite not knowing anything about magic before a few days ago, the redhead had made several keen observations about magic and the magical world which Hermione had needed several years to realize for herself — for example, the fact that Albus Dumbledore wasn't nearly as light and good as he liked to portray himself.

It was during a lull in the conversation that Pepper turned abruptly to face her directly, yet even as she opened her mouth to speak, she seemed to lose her nerve. "Hermione," she finally said, her face shifting between determination and uncertainty, "can I ask you something personal? I'll understand if you don't want to answer, but..."

Hermione was curious to see where this was going. "Sure, I guess," she replied with a shrug.

Looking a bit more confident, Pepper went on, "Is there anything going on between you and Iris? Are you a couple? I'm sorry, I don't mean to pry, and please don't think of me right now as your boss or your boss's assistant, but she was distressed when she was sitting by your bed, and I could tell she thought of you as more than a friend. And I also got the impression that you two didn't part on good terms. But I wasn't sure how you... well... you know?"

Hermione was now wishing that she hadn't been so curious about what Pepper wanted to know, but at the same time she couldn't deny that a question like this was probably going to come up sooner or later. Even if it took a while before she trusted Iris fully again and accepted her back into her life, they still appeared to act like a couple in too many ways not to cause people to ask questions.

"That's..." Hermione started, then stopped. After a few moments reflection, she tried again. "That's difficult to answer. I guess the short answer is no. But it's more complicated than that. We were friends — the best of friends. We could have become more, too, had she or I tried, but we didn't. Then she left, and I won't go into why, but it hurt me badly, and I still haven't forgiven her for that. She's committed to earning my trust again, and maybe we'll become friends again in the future. Maybe more than friends, too. I'd like that. But... well... I guess we'll have to see." She gave Pepper a rather uncertain, pleading look.

Pepper reached out and put her hand on Hermione's arm. "I won't claim to understand what you're going through, but you seem to be handling it well."

"Iris is a complicated person," Hermione said. "She always has been. Unfortunately, she has a habit of rushing off to do what she thinks needs to be done without paying enough attention to how her actions affect others."

Pepper groaned at that and said, "Now I **can** say that I understand what you're going through. Tony can be exactly the same way."

Hermione gave Pepper an appraising look, then looked over at Tony who was still talking to Iris, then back to Pepper. "Oh?" she asked, with one eyebrow quirked. "And how long have the two of you...?"

"No!" said Pepper, a bit too quickly and forcefully. "We aren't together. No, not at all. Nothing like that."

"Really?" Hermione drawled. "But I get the impression that you'd prefer it if there _were_ something like that?"

Pepper started blushing, which only made her freckles stand out more. Hermione was quite used to seeing a similar look on another freckled redhead back in Britain, so she had a good idea of what it meant.

"Well, aren't we quite the pair," Hermione said sardonically. "Both attracted to difficult people who can be incredibly selfless one minute, then incredibly selfish the next. And even worse, when they're being selfish, they tend to think that they are selflessly protecting others."

Pepper looked at her a bit surprised, then said, "To be brutally honest, Tony is often genuinely selfish — as in, he only thinks of himself and his own pleasure. But he's getting better. He's at least gotten to the point where he feels guilty when it's pointed out — which might not sound like much, but compared to how he was a year or two ago it's remarkable progress."

"But you love him anyway, right?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, I guess... wait! No! What?" Hermione smirked at Pepper's panicked look.

"Don't worry," Hermione said, "I won't tell anyone your secret. But if you ever want to talk, I'll offer a sympathetic ear. I'll probably know better than most what you're going through."

Pepper slumped in her seat, looking a bit put out, as if she had been tricked into revealing the truth. "I suppose. And you can come to me, too. I don't imagine that you know too many people who can not only sympathize, but who know enough of the backstory to understand what's going on."

"True enough," Hermione said sadly, downing the last of her drink and wondering where the robots had gotten to. Just as she finished, Iris dropped into the seat next to her and on the opposite side from Pepper.

"Did you ditch Tony?" Pepper asked.

"No," Iris answered, "Tony ditched me. He wandered off muttering about relative teleportation times and demanding that Jarvis figure out how to buy the moon so that he could start building his own moon base."

"What?!" cried out Pepper, who wasted no time jumping out of her chair and racing into the house.

"He didn't say that, did he?" asked Hermione in a disbelieving tone. Iris stared back at Hermione, her face not moving a muscle. "Did he?"

"Well," conceded Iris, "not in **exactly** those words... but close. He is looking to at least gain control of property on the moon, if not the whole moon, and he was discussing the cost of a moon base. And I think he wants me to be the one to apparate the material and supplies."

Hermione buried her face in her hands. "You put him up to that, didn't you? Somehow, it has to be your fault."

"Hey!" objected Iris. "He was like that already when I found him! I merely mentioned how good I am at apparating."

Hermione fixed her with a pointed stare, then looked at her watch. "It's getting late. Maybe we should leave before you give him any more bright ideas."

"Yes, dear," Iris said, quickly finishing off her drink and failing to see Hermione's amused smirk.

From up on the roof, a young raven watched events closely and pondered the future.


	3. Setting Up the Pieces

**Recommendation:** Story recommendation for this chapter is "The Queen Who Fell to Earth" by Bobmin356. There are a couple of crossovers between Harry Potter and Dragonriders of Pern, but this is the one to read. It's the first of a trilogy, though the third and final installment probably won't be completed, sadly. Bob and Alyx do a great job bringing together two very different stories in a plausible way and in the process produce an enjoyable story of their own.

* * *

 **Chapter 3 - Setting Up the Pieces**

 **Los Angeles, California, USA. December, 2008.**

When Hermione returned home from Iris' wake, her owl Archimedes was waiting with a couple of letters. She'd had a special charm placed on the large outside windowsill so owls could come, go, and even wait without being noticed by the neighbors. The last thing she needed was the Audubon Society camping out on the street below to take photos of non-native owls taking up residence in the middle of the city.

This was especially true since Archimedes was a Eurasian eagle owl. One of the largest owl species, she'd picked him shortly before moving to America because he could make the trans-Atlantic flights much more easily than the smaller owl species that were so much more popular among British wizards and witches.

After giving Archimedes some treats and water, she looked at the second, unexpected piece of parchment he'd brought with him and recognized the handwriting, though she hadn't seen it for quite a while. _I wonder what's going on that would cause Ron to include a letter with Ginny's response..._

Opening it up, she found that the letter consisted mostly of bland, general information — and not a lot of that, which wasn't a surprise, as Ron had never been much of a letter writer. After reading it through a second and third time, however, Hermione realized why it seemed off to her: there was an undercurrent of fear and worry that she had never before seen in any of Ron's letters.

After the war, Ron had decided to help George run the joke shop, and he'd apparently been given the job of managing their new Hogsmeade store sometime recently. Both working the floor and working as manager put Ron in contact with regular people on a daily basis, and the growing uneasiness in magical Britain seemed to have finally made its way into Ron's brain.

Ron Weasley had been one of Hermione's most consistent detractors when she warned others about the signs she was seeing and the direction she feared society was going. He had always called her "mental" before changing the topic to Quidditch or dishing up another helping of food.

Now, though, even Ron was getting worried — not enough to say so outright, but worried enough to write her in the first place. The problem was, she didn't know what she was supposed to do about it. She couldn't tell him that everything would be alright, and she didn't want to say "I told you so." So what on earth could she possibly write to him?

* * *

 **Stark Expo. Flushing Meadows, New York.**

Tony Stark sat in silence while his chauffeur, Happy Hogan, drove him from the Stark Expo to Washington D.C. The opening of the Expo had been quite a success, if he did say so himself. He had gotten another chance to appear as Iron Man, thus setting the tone for how Stark Industries would provide people with a better future through technology. He had even taken time to showcase his father's introduction to the last Expo in 1974. It had been presented as a way to show continuity between his father's work and his own, though people would eventually realize that it also helped make Howard's efforts look inferior to Tony's.

That would come, though. For now, he needed to get himself mentally prepared to face the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington. He had a good idea of what they wanted: his Iron Man suit. Well, he wasn't going to give it to them. He was using that technology to keep America safe, and he certainly didn't trust any of those senators with it — especially that Senator Stern.

Fortunately Tony was popular enough that he had public support behind him. That could change, given how fickle the public could be, but the Stark Expo should help with that. A few well-timed appearances of Iron Man should as well. If things went as badly with his health as he feared, he only had to hold on for a little while. If he could prove that one man could be trusted to do this, maybe he could find a worthy successor — someone who would keep Iron Man in private hands.

He would need to do it before it was too late, though. If he couldn't, he'd have to seriously consider Operation Meltdown, the complete destruction of all data, prototypes, materials, and suits in order to prevent any of it from getting into the hands of the military or any of his former competitors, like Justin Hammer.

* * *

 **S.H.I.E.L.D. Facility, New York City, April, 2009.**

Iris stepped into Fury's office to see him poring over several different files at once. "Director Fury, you wanted to see me?"

Looking up, he responded, "Agent Potter. Good, it's about time. We've got a situation that I'm not yet sure how we're going to handle, but I want you in position so you can deal with it if it becomes necessary for us to step in."

"Yes, sir. What and where?"

Pushing a button on his computer, Fury brought up an image of Tony Stark on the large screen behind him. "I trust that no introductions are necessary, here?"

Iris' eyes widened slightly at the image in front of her. She had always known that S.H.I.E.L.D. would have further dealings with Tony Stark — his Iron Man suit guaranteed that. Truth be told, having to deal with Stark would give her more opportunities to spend time with Hermione, so that was a win. However, Fury's tone indicated that there was a problem, and that didn't bode well for anyone.

"What's the mission, sir?" she asked, keeping her tone even so as not to betray any of her feelings.

"For now, your mission will be to observe and protect," Fury stated.

"Protect, sir?" Iris asked. "Why would Iron Man need protection?"

"Because there's something wrong with Tony Stark. We think he's sick." Fury began pulling out documents while new images of Stark started appearing on the large monitor. "He's reduced his number of public appearances. He frequently looks tired and lethargic. He's started making huge donations of his personal assets — like for example donating his entire modern art collection to the Boy Scouts of America."

"Stark may be eccentric," Iris observed, "but that sounds a bit off even for him."

"Exactly," responded Fury. "Our best guess right now is that there is something wrong with the arc reactor in his chest. He may be a genius, but he still made himself a guinea pig for untested technology. Well, untested inside the human body, at least. It wouldn't be surprising if it were causing him problems. As it happens, I know a few things about the arc reactor technology that even he doesn't, but I don't know if that will be relevant, so I'm going to hold off on bringing that up. If it becomes necessary, I'll talk to him about it personally."

This piqued Iris' curiosity, and she wondered what Fury could possibly know about the arc reactor that Stark would be unaware of.

"So you're to watch him for signs of illness and report back on anything unusual," Fury continued. "You will also be protecting him. That's part truth and part cover. It's the truth because if he's sick, he may not be as able to defend himself. It's a cover because we don't want him to know right now that we're keeping an eye on his health. We have a story about terrorist threats ready to use. He already knows enough about your skills to understand that you can be an asset if something happens."

"Very well, sir," Iris said, making to leave. "I'll be gone inside the hour."

"Oh, and Potter," Fury called out before she could open the door. "Our intelligence strongly suggests that your girlfriend may be involved in helping him with whatever his illness is. So be sure to talk to her ASAP and see what you can get out of her."

Iris narrowed her eyes as she looked back over her shoulder, "She's **not** my girlfriend, sir. We're not involved — we're just friends." With that, she left.

"Yeah, so you say," Fury said to the empty office. "But how much longer do you think that will last?"

* * *

 **Longitude: Unknown; Latitude: Unknown; 55,000 Feet Above the United States.**

Iris Potter let part of her mind drift as her fingers moved automatically over the controls of the jet. One of the benefits of having had so much magic infuse her mind was the ability to split her attention over multiple tasks. It was especially useful in a fight, but it also served her well in situations like this: she could complete complicated tasks associated with flying a high-tech jet aircraft while still leaving much of her mind free to wander.

Flying a jet wasn't the same as a broom, but she couldn't easily fly a broom anymore, and flying a jet this high was almost as good. Up above the clouds and the turbulence, with all her troubles left behind so far below, she truly felt free. Up here, she could be alone and think in peace.

And right now, her thoughts were primarily focused on Nick Fury. _Meet the new boss, same as the old boss_ , she thought to herself. That phrase was starting to mean a whole lot more to her than ever before, she realized much to her chagrin.

 _Focus, Iris_ , she chastised herself. _Work the problem, don't simply complain about it. What would Hermione do?_

Hermione... she was part of the issue, as a matter of fact. Fury kept dropping her name in conversations. Not every conversation, but often enough to stand out as curious. _He's also gone out of his way more than once to make sure I knew that he knew that there was more between us than friendship_ , she mused. _But why? S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't care about that sort of thing._

So Fury was interested in Hermione. That would have been obvious anyway — Iris knew that she had been approached to work at S.H.I.E.L.D. Although she wasn't initially interested, she'd undergone a change of heart eventually and had started seriously thinking about it. If it weren't for the fact that she loved her job, appreciated having Stark as a boss, enjoyed her growing closeness with Potts, and felt that her work was important, she sometimes sounded like she would jump at the opportunity S.H.I.E.L.D. had offered her.

 _Could that be all there is to it?_ Iris asked herself. _Is Fury simply trying to encourage me to work on Hermione to get her to join up?_ She thought about that for a bit, letting the idea roll around in her mind. _It's not implausible. It's no surprise that they want her. She'd be one more magic user on the roster and she knows way more about magical theory than I ever will. If she can integrate magic with technology, S.H.I.E.L.D. would acquire significant advantages over any enemies._

 _But why use me?_ she wondered. _Obviously, sending other agents would eventually annoy her and drive her away. Since he knows about our relationship, he knows I won't push that hard. He knows I'll have enough sense to keep her thinking about it without annoying her. And he knows that I have a personal interest in her joining. Come to think of it, he might be manipulating things to ensure that I only see her often enough to keep things going well, but not so often that we get comfortable with the current arrangement._

Half a year had passed since she had been reunited with Hermione. Now that she thought about it, Iris realized how hectic and disjointed the last six months had been. They'd only been able to get together five times since reconnecting, and the intervals between meetings had been growing longer. Phone calls helped, but she'd been sent on many assignments that required odd hours in distant time zones, making phone calls tricky to arrange.

 _Maybe that is Fury's game_ , Iris concluded as her hands began to initiate descent and landing procedures. _I'll have to pay more attention to what he says and does._

* * *

 **Stark Industries Corporate Headquarters, California.**

Iris barely had time to sit down before Pepper Potts appeared in the lobby and walked over to greet her. "Iris! Good afternoon!" she called out. "It's so good to see you again. How long has it been this time?"

"Almost two months," Iris answered. "Living and working on the other side of the country is getting more and more inconvenient."

"Tell me about it," Pepper said, rolling her eyes as she led the auburn-haired woman to a private elevator. "I like your new hair, by the way."

"Thanks," Iris replied once they had privacy inside the elevator. "It's my old hair coloring — what I originally grew up with. I lightened it for an assignment once and decided to keep it that way. Now that I'm supposed to be someone else, though, I've let it go back to its natural color."

"Well, it suits you," Pepper said with a smile. "So what brings you to see us today? I noticed that you wanted an immediate appointment with Tony rather than with Hermione. It's fortunate that he's in today, cleaning out his office."

"What, why?" Iris asked, worried.

"Oh, you probably haven't heard," Pepper responded, clearly a bit embarrassed. "Tony named me CEO of Stark Industries. He's stepping back and putting me in charge."

"Wow," Iris said, distracted. "That's... hard to believe..." Abruptly realizing what that sounded like, she hastily added, "Don't get me wrong, I'm sure you'll do wonderfully! But for him to do something like that all of the sudden..." Iris added this to the list of odd behaviors exhibited by Stark recently.

"Oh, don't worry about it," Pepper assured her. "I felt the same way when he told me his decision. You're absolutely right, it is odd, but then again, he has been acting a bit odd lately. For example, he's been away from the office a lot the past few months and he hasn't told me why."

"That is strange, I thought he was a workaholic," Iris agreed.

"Exactly," Pepper said. "So, what's this meeting about?"

"It would be best if I simply told the two of you at the same time," Iris said, "and, yes, you should be there as well. After we get that sorted, I'll take a little time to see Hermione. Is she in today, do you know?"

Pepper frowned, then replied, "No, she hasn't been working in this building for a couple of months. Currently she's in another facility, but I don't know where, and I don't even know what she's doing. It's all very hush-hush for some reason. Now that I'm CEO, I'll be able to find out."

Iris filed that tidbit away, seeing it as possible confirmation of what Fury suspected. "That's fine, I'm sure Tony knows where she is and can point me in the right direction."

"He hasn't even told me where she is, so he might not want to divulge that information, especially since you don't work for him."

Iris looked coolly at the redhead and raised one eyebrow. "I'm not concerned. No one keeps me from Hermione."

Smiling thinly, Pepper asked, "You really care about her, don't you?"

Iris' face softened as she said quietly, "Yes, more than she knows."

"Then why did you leave her?" Pepper's face and tone had lost much of their friendliness.

Iris was surprised — she had never expected to get this question from Pepper, and especially in such a blunt manner. "That... that's complicated," she managed to say, suddenly much less confident.

"I don't mean to pry," Pepper explained with a serious look on her face, "but I've gotten close to Hermione over these past few months, and I care about her. I can tell that you hurt her badly before, and I don't want to see her hurt like that again."

Iris confused Pepper by flashing her a broad, warm smile, then said, "So, did you decide to accompany me up to Tony's office with the **intention** of giving me the Shovel Speech, or was that a last minute thing?"

Pepper gaped in surprise and slapped her hand over her mouth. "Oh, my God!" she gasped from behind her hand. "I did do that, didn't I? I'm so sorry..."

Iris laughed. "No, don't apologize! You have no idea how happy it makes me to know that she has people in her life who care about her enough to threaten me, even obliquely. It's comforting, to be honest."

The elevator dinged and the doors opened, but before Pepper could walk out Iris laid a hand on her arm and said, "I know I hurt her, and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't regret it — or that I'm not thankful that she's giving me another chance. I'm not perfect, but I am trying to be better. I can't promise that I won't make any mistakes, but I will promise that I will do my best to make her happy."

"Thanks," Pepper said smiling, "That's all I can ask for."

* * *

 **Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.**

Bruce Banner sighed in relief as he finished wiping down the conveyor belt and put his rag back in his pocket. He lifted his wrist to check his heart monitor — the number was still high, but it was at least dropping steadily. He'd gone into a panic when he cut himself and watched his blood fall down through the bottling machinery, causing his heart rate to spike to dangerous levels. He didn't want to think about how much damage the Other Guy might cause if he transformed in here, in the middle of the day.

It hadn't been much blood that fell, but if even a single drop had contaminated one of the bottles instead of hitting the conveyor belt, he would have put some innocent consumer at great risk. _They could have died_ , he thought, _or even worse, they might have become afflicted with the same condition I've been dealing with for years. I wouldn't want to wish that on anyone. Death would certainly be better._

A rumbling issued from deep inside him at that pronouncement.

"Ugh!" Bruce moaned and put a hand to his stomach, thinking that something he ate at lunch disagreed with him. He failed to realize that the "disagreement" was far more serious and profound.

Resolving to be more careful about getting cut — and about what he bought to eat from those street carts — Bruce made his way back to the motor he had been trying to repair. The factory owner gave him a lot of leeway in his job, but only because he was so good at keeping the machines running.

Behind him, a clear bottle with a dark red streak inside wobbled along the belt, on its way to be filled with a carbonated drink that would be shipped to the United States the following month.

* * *

 **Tony Stark's Office, Stark Industries, California.**

"Good afternoon, Agent Potter," Tony said while boxing up some documents. "What can I do for you? Your message when you made this appointment sounded urgent."

"Good afternoon, Mr. Stark," Iris replied, imitating the formality he showed. In casual settings, they could be friends — or at least friendly. Here, they needed to be formal. "S.H.I.E.L.D. has developed some worrying intelligence concerning you, and they've sent me to help out." As she and Pepper sat in the lounge area side of his office, Iris pulled out a file and tried to hand it to him.

"Sorry, but no," he said as he held up his hands. "I don't like to be handed things." Iris shrugged and passed it over to Pepper instead, who immediately opened it and began reading.

"Multiple sources indicate that there are plans by terrorists to come after you — whether for ransom, to acquire your suit's technology, or both. S.H.I.E.L.D. wants me here to help protect you." Looking over at Pepper, she added, "That's not everything, of course. We didn't want to compromise any of our assets. It's mostly a general overview so you understand what we think we're facing."

Tony scoffed at this, saying, "No offense to you and your skills, but does S.H.I.E.L.D. think that **I** need a bodyguard?"

"This is serious, Tony," Pepper said without looking up from the file. "You shouldn't dismiss this threat."

"Of course not, Mr. Stark," Iris replied. "We know that you of all people can take care of yourself. No, S.H.I.E.L.D. sent me here with two purposes in mind. First is to act as backup for you. No matter how skilled you are, you aren't invulnerable or immortal." Pepper was still reading the file, so she missed the brief flinch on Tony's face — but Iris didn't. She'd been counting on it, in fact. Then Tony met her gaze.

 _Gotcha!_ she thought.

Tony's flinch after her carefully chosen words told her that Fury was right in his suspicions. Tony's decision to look her in the eye would hopefully give her some details. Despite all of her power, Iris still considered herself shite at Legilimency and Occlumency.

A master Legilimens could slip into a person's mind, sift through their thoughts, and retreat with needed information without anyone being the wiser. Iris couldn't do that. With a light touch, Iris could skim the surface of a person's mind, which meant mostly getting a read on their emotions. That was useful for determining whether they were telling the truth or not, but an expert on reading a person's face could do the same.

Most of the time, if she was lucky, Iris could pick up words or ideas that had strong emotional resonance — except, of course, when the person was willing to open their mind to her. In those cases, Iris had an easier time getting all sorts of information, emotions, memories, and more. But those situations were rare.

With a strong push, Iris could rip apart a person's mind and tear out their deepest, darkest memories. It came with a lot of screaming, involuntary urination, and a high risk of leaving the subject in a permanent vegetative state. She had no idea what sort of state Stane was in and she didn't want to; she avoided reading that part of the case file.

Tony only warranted a light touch, giving Iris the emotions of... fear. Then there were some words: _core... palladium... toxic... terminal,_ all of them connected to Tony's fear. Iris didn't have the whole story, but she now had more than enough to take back to Fury.

Since her Legilimency only required a couple of seconds, she could continue her explanation without missing a beat. "Second is to take advantage of any opportunities for more intelligence. If — and I stress the if — someone attacks you, I can focus on taking one or two of the assailants prisoner while you defend yourself. Those prisoners can be interrogated and will hopefully provide us with enough intel to prevent future attacks."

"So Fury isn't sending you to act as a babysitter for me?" Tony asked in a suspicious tone. "You aren't going to be trying to tell me what to do, where to go, that sort of thing?"

"Absolutely not," Iris tried to reassure him. "I'd of course ask that you try to make it easier for me to stay relatively close to you, and I realize that that might require some adjustments in how you do things, but otherwise no significant changes in how you live or work. Do what you normally do, and I'll stay as far in the background as you want."

"You know, Tony, you never got another personal secretary after me," Pepper said, looking back and forth between them. "If you let Iris take that as a cover for her work, she'll have the perfect excuse to stay close to you, even at odd hours, and most people won't give her a second glance."

Tony nodded thoughtfully. "I take it you have skills beyond the magic, right?" he asked.

"Well," she began, "magic has greatly enhanced my strength, speed, agility, reflexes, and senses. I don't have to use active magic for that. I'm an expert in several different types of martial arts, including karate, judo, aikido, ninjutsu, and muay thai. I'm an expert marksman and am fluent in several languages, including Russian, English, German, French, Chinese, and Japanese."

Pepper looked up and seemed impressed at that litany of skills. "Wow," she said, "It must have been hard to learn so many things since magical school."

Iris shrugged and said, "Not as hard as you might think. I just had to apply myself." _And use extensive Legilimency on willing partners who could provide me with the necessary foundations_ , she added silently to herself.

"And this wouldn't even be my first time going undercover as a secretary or PA, so I know the basic skills for those jobs, too," Iris added.

"For how long do you expect this to go on?" Tony was looking a bit more relaxed now.

"Honestly, I wasn't given any sort of timeline," Iris admitted with a shrug. "I wouldn't expect it to last too long because there are always other missions they could be sending me on. I don't intend to become a permanent or even semi-permanent shadow or house guest, if that's what concerns you."

Tony nodded thoughtfully, then finally said, "OK, I guess we can try this out. I may end up working more closely with S.H.I.E.L.D. in the future, so this might prove useful. When did you want to start? Now?"

Smiling, Iris responded, "Now would be good, though it might be nice if I could have a quick visit with Hermione first? Pepper mentioned that she's working on something elsewhere? I'll also need to find someplace to live." Iris stared right into Tony's eyes while she said this, picking up on fear again plus the words: _toxic... cure... magic... home_.

 _Bingo!_ she thought to herself. _He's hoping that Hermione might be able to find a cure with magic. And is she working at home? Or maybe his home?_

"I... don't know," Tony said slowly. It was clear to Iris that he was trying to come up with a plausible reason for why the two witches couldn't meet — or at least for why Iris couldn't go to her. _She's probably working out of his home_ , Iris concluded. _That will have better equipment, he can keep it quiet there, and he can be involved more._

"Tony," Pepper spoke up with a disappointed tone in her voice. "It's been months since they've seen each other. Are you saying that Hermione can't afford a few hours break?" The near-pout she was giving Tony was priceless. The fact that it worked was even better.

Sighing, Tony chose to give in rather than argue with the growing number of women who seemed to be invading his life. "Alright, alright," he said, putting up his hands in surrender. "I'll call Hermione and... have her meet you. Somewhere. Here? No, here is boring. I know! I'll get you two reservations at this great restaurant I heard about the other day. Have an early dinner, spend the rest of the day, evening, night, whatever, catching up. Or doing, you know, whatever. You and I can start this 'thing' tomorrow morning."

And then Tony was out of his chair like a shot, talking on the phone about reservations someplace... French, maybe. Iris couldn't tell, he was talking too fast. Before she knew it, he had the box he was packing and was gone, leaving her and Pepper alone in his office.

"Is he always like this?" Iris asked.

"Not really," Pepper said. Iris could hear the sadness and worry in her voice. "He's changed over the last three months or so, I guess. I don't understand what's going on, and he won't confide in me."

Iris reached out and squeezed Pepper's shoulder in a gesture of support and understanding. She knew more than Pepper did now, and it was enough to know that Pepper was right to be worried.

 _Now_ , Iris thought to herself, _I have to figure out where I'm supposed to go for this early dinner. And what am I supposed to wear?_

* * *

 **Moscow, Russia.**

Ivan Vanko sat heavily in a dirty, tattered chair in his tiny apartment. Opening the envelope he had been given by the anonymous courier earlier that day, he looked through the contents: money, a false passport, and train tickets that would take him from Moscow to Monaco. _A plane would be faster and probably more comfortable_ , he lamented, _but I'd never be able to get all of my equipment past airport security. On the trains, though, security is a joke — just so long as this passport holds up, no one will stop me._

He quickly counted the small stack of bills; it wasn't much, but then he'd been living on far less for many years now. He'd be able to make do, and it only needed to last him until he reached his destination. Once he'd achieved his goal in Monaco next month, it wouldn't matter.

Vanko lit a cheap cigarette, took a deep drag on it, and leaned back in the chair. _Soon_ , he thought. _Soon, justice will be done. The world will see that that thief, Stark, is just a man. The world will understand that all men are vulnerable and that the sins of the past catch up to us all, no matter how rich or powerful a person may become. I may not be able to bring my father back or claim the fortune that should have been ours, but I will at least be able to ensure that Stark can't continue to enjoy his ill-gotten gains. I won't even need to kill him to do this — I simply need to show everyone how weak and vulnerable he is!_

Looking back in the envelope, Vanko wondered about the secretive organization that was providing him with the means to extract his vengeance. He found it curious that they hadn't asked for anything in return; once the word had spread in the Russian underworld that Ivan Vanko was looking to get revenge against Tony Stark, he suddenly found that he had all sorts of friends he hadn't known existed.

 _No_ , he chided himself, _not friends. None of them are my friends, especially not these "Ten Rings" people who gave me this. The enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friend. They are merely an ally of convenience — an ally who will turn on me at a moment's notice, if it suits them._ Ivan didn't know or trust these people, but he'd take their money and documents if it helped him achieve his goals. He didn't know what their objectives were and he didn't care, at least not so far.

"Bah!" he said aloud in the empty apartment, taking another drag on his cigarette and letting the harsh tobacco burn his throat. "Friends. Enemies. Allies. It doesn't matter. Next month, it will all be over."

A noise to his left startled him, and his cockatoo, Gosha, few to his shoulder. Reaching up to scratch her, he realized that he hadn't made any arrangements for someone to take care of her. He'd have to talk to the babushka who lived upstairs. She was an annoying, nosey sort, like they all were, but she had a son-in-law who was young and good with animals.

* * *

 **Tony Stark's Home, Malibu, California.**

Walking into his kitchen to get a drink, preferably something strong, Tony thought back to the meeting he had earlier that day with Iris Potter. He hadn't gotten a chance to spend much time with her since he had hosted that wake for her — well, for her previous identity, Natasha Romanoff — and now he was regretting it. He didn't know her well enough to read her, and since she was a professional spy, he was sure that she must be harder to read than most. That put him at a disadvantage.

 _Is the terrorist threat real?_ he asked himself. _Probably, but that's nothing new. I received regular threats even before becoming Iron Man, and now they're coming in almost daily. So that doesn't mean anything._

 _What other reasons might she have to be here, if the threat is fake or just trivial?_ He pondered that for a few minutes while swirling his drink in his glass. _Maybe she's only here to spend time with Hermione?_

He rejected that possibility almost immediately. He was sure she'd use her time out here to do that, but he was also certain that wasn't her ulterior motive. She had to have been sent out here by Fury, and he isn't a matchmaker. _Or is he_? Tony reconsidered. _They did offer her a job at S.H.I.E.L.D., and she was more interested after the memorial service. Is Fury stepping up his efforts to get her away from me?_ He wouldn't put it past Fury to use the tentative relationship between Iris and Hermione to get the latter to sign up.

 _But it still seems like an awful lot of effort — assigning an important asset like Iris to spend so much time with me, just to get a few minutes here and there to sell her on a job. No,_ Tony concluded, _that might be something he hopes will happen, but it's not Fury's primary play._

Finishing his drink off in one gulp, Tony decided to set that question aside in order to focus on the main problem that had been taking up so much of his time over these past few months: the fact that the arc reactor in his chest, the device he'd so cleverly created to save his life, was now slowly killing him.


	4. Date Night

**Recommendation:** Story recommendation for this chapter is "Uncle Quentin's Spy" by Starfox5. Hermione never even knew she had a great-uncle named Quentin Travers, but he knew about her, and after her fourth year at Hogwarts, he wants to work with her and her friend Harry to fight the darkness. Buffy and the Scoobies don't appear in this crossover, but apparently they will appear in a coming sequel. H/Hr, of course, like Starfox5's other stories.

* * *

 **Chapter 4 - Date Night**

 **Unidentified Restaurant, Maybe French. California.**

Dinner with Hermione had been... awkward, to say the least. Stark's hasty arrangement notwithstanding, Iris had been looking forward to it. She had even managed to pull an outfit from her bag which turned out to be the right combination of dressy and casual for an early dinner at the place. She hadn't been seated for ten minutes, though, before the "date" started going pear-shaped.

First, Hermione had been late. So late, in fact, that the waiter had become rather obvious in his pity for Iris, thinking that she had been stood up by some cad. Then, once Hermione finally got there, she tried to rush through everything, sending the clear message that she didn't want to be there and hoped to leave again as soon as possible.

Even the wait staff recognized her behavior for what it was, and Iris was sure that if they hadn't been consummate professionals, one of them would have dumped the soup on Hermione's head for being so rude. _I'm going to have to give them an extra-large tip_ , Iris thought to herself.

The problem was, Iris had a pretty good idea why Hermione was acting this way. If she were reading all the evidence correctly, Tony Stark was dying, and Hermione was neck-deep in the effort to find a cure. _Of course she's preoccupied. Of course she wants to get back to the lab. She was the same way back at Hogwarts when exams were coming or when that year's Let's Kill Iris adventure was coming to a head. It's hard to blame her, isn't it?_

 _On the other hand_ , Iris considered, _I'm not supposed to know any of that. As far as she knows, I'm in town to keep an eye on Tony for a while. Since I'm supposed to be unaware of her having a good excuse for acting like this, I shouldn't let her get away with it. And since she hasn't tried to give me a good excuse, she shouldn't be_ _ **allowed**_ _to get away with it. And quite frankly, I don't_ _ **want**_ _to let her get away with it! But I'll be generous and try guilt first..._

Clearing her throat as she watched Hermione wolf down the remains of her expensive main course, Iris said in a soft voice, "You don't want to be here with me, do you, Hermione?"

"What?" Hermione asked as she looked up. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

Sighing, Iris repeated her question. This time, she made sure to keep her eyes a bit wide so as to play up the pathetic angle without overdoing it.

Hermione's stricken look made it clear that Iris had hit her mark perfectly. "No! That's not it at all! I want to... well... OK, I am working on something important and I guess it has me a little preoccupied right now."

"A little?" Iris asked incredulously. "Hermione, you've barely said a dozen words to me all through dinner — and that includes the greeting you gave me when you got here. Late."

Hermione had the decency to blush in shame at that.

Going in for the kill, Iris added, "And do I need to compare how you've been eating to the table manners of a certain male Weasley of our mutual acquaintance?"

Hermione's gasp of horror told Iris that she'd nailed her mark once again. _And the BAFTA award for best female actress in a dramatic role goes to..._

Slumping in her seat, Hermione gently put her fork down next to her plate and looked up at Iris. "I'm sorry. You're right. What I'm doing is important but... we... you're important, too. I know that we still have a long way to go, but I can't forget that it's going to take some effort from both of us. I can't ignore you and expect everything to go well."

Iris smiled and decided to show some mercy and switch to playing 'good cop' now. "It's OK, I understand. It's not like I haven't seen this sort of behavior before, because it's not the first time you've been caught up in something important. I can see that it matters a lot to you, but are you taking time out for yourself? Taking regular breaks? If you get too involved in your work, your efficiency and productivity go down. The two of us aside, you do need to get out some. How many times did I have to drag you out of the library to at least take a walk around the Black Lake?"

"Thank you," Hermione said. "You're right again. No, I guess I haven't been taking the breaks that I should. And I've been totally blowing this one off, too, instead of taking advantage of it."

"Would you like to talk about it?" Iris asked, hoping that a gentle, probing question wouldn't sound too suspicious. "I know you've got fellow researchers to talk to, but sometimes airing out a problem to an outsider who doesn't share the usual assumptions can help." She took a sip of her wine with studied nonchalance.

"No, I'm sorry, I can't," Hermione replied regretfully. "This project is too secret. Hardly anyone knows about it, not even my colleagues. Honestly, I kind of wish I could bounce ideas off someone, even someone like you who doesn't have any expertise in this field. You're right that talking to someone helps, but I can't do it. Maybe I can ask Ton... no, no, forget I said anything."

 _OK, strike one_ , Iris thought, suppressing a frown. _Let's try this from a different angle._

"Did you say Tony?" Iris asked, trying to sound casual. "Speaking of him, my meeting with him earlier was odd. Has he been acting strangely, do you think? Pepper said he had been. For two or three months. Is he alright?"

Hermione stiffened briefly before answering, "What? Yes! He's fine! I mean, as far as I know, he's fine. Not that I would know anything about his health..." She abruptly stopped in mid-sentence and fixed Iris with a pointed glare. In a low, suspicious voice she said, "What do you know?"

"Know?" Iris asked, desperately trying to salvage this. "About what?"

Hermione's eyes had narrowed by this point, and if Iris weren't mistaken, her now-wavy hair was starting to go frizzy and bushy right before her eyes. _Oh, shit! Abort! Abort!_ Iris thought. _The last time I saw it this bad was when Ron announced to the common room that Hermione was a girl._

During their fifth year, the two witches had finally figured out the reason why Hermione's hair was so untameably bushy and frizzy: it was acting as a conduit for her excess magic. If she used enough magic in classes, it relaxed into wavy curls. If she became angry without getting a chance to hex people, it expanded into ever greater bushiness, much like dry hair in winter can become full of static. So what Iris was seeing now was a definite sign that Hermione was mad — and very close to hexing, the Statute of Secrecy be damned.

"What. Do. You. Know?" Hermione demanded in a low, menacing tone.

 _There goes my BAFTA award_ , Iris lamented. Deciding to adopt a more assertive stance, she answered, "I can't say that I know anything. And even if I did know something, I could hardly talk about it here in public, now could I?"

Tossing her napkin on the table, Hermione announced, "We're done here. Pay so we can leave and go someplace to talk." She stood up, never taking her eyes off of Iris. "I'm going to freshen up. I expect us to be able to leave by the time I get back."

Sighing, Iris motioned for the sympathetic-looking waiter so she could take care of the bill. _Definitely one of my top five worst dates of all time... though not as bad as when I let that Lohan chick pick me up and take me home earlier this year, only to have her girlfriend walk in on us._ A vision of Hermione's narrowed eyes and frizzy hair suddenly overwhelmed her thoughts. _Then again, the night is still young..._

* * *

 **Tony Stark's Home, Malibu, California.**

Piercing his skin, Tony Stark drew up a drop of blood and pressed it against his analyzer. After a few seconds, the readout delivered the bad news: blood toxicity 20%.

"It's getting worse, sir," came JARVIS' observation.

"Yeah, I know," Tony mumbled.

"Shouldn't Ms. Granger still be here working, sir?" JARVIS asked, "It's relatively early."

"No, I gave her the rest of the day and night off," Tony replied. "Iris is in town and wanted to see her, so I sent them to... uh... some restaurant I heard about. French, I think. Doesn't matter, though, I heard it's good and I want them to have a nice time."

"It's been a while since Ms. Potter has been in town, and I know that Ms. Granger has felt her absence," JARVIS noted.

"Yeah, I got that impression," Tony said, his mind still working through options for what to do about the death sentence hanging over his head.

"Incoming call from Ms. Potts, sir," JARVIS announced.

"Tony!"

"Hey, Pepper, what's up?"

"Tony, I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner," Pepper said. "We haven't done that in a while — I thought it might be nice to take some time off."

Tony barely heard what she said, he was so distracted; but he did know that she was asking for time he couldn't afford to spare. "That sounds nice, Pepper, but I'm going to have to take a rain check," Tony replied. "I've got too much here that I need to work on."

"Oh. OK, Tony. If you're sure." The disappointment in her voice was obvious, but Tony didn't notice because he'd already moved on from her call to the next problem he was trying to solve. "I guess I'll talk to you tomorrow then," she concluded.

"Yeah, bye, Pepper," he said absently, neither knowing nor caring how dismissive his voice sounded.

"Are you sure that was wise, sir?" JARVIS asked. "You could do with a bit of time to relax, too."

"No can do," Tony said, already heading down to his lab. "I can't sit around wasting time on dinners if I'm going to have any chance of beating this. Now, bring up the data on that last molecular bonding test we did. I want to see if a different type of alloy will stand up to the neutron radiation..."

* * *

 **Coastal Highway, California.**

Iris paid the bill and had to hurry to keep up with Hermione as she stalked out of the restaurant. Iris didn't bother asking about which car they would take or if she should follow; she just went with Hermione and got in the passenger side. Once they were moving, Iris spoke for the first time. "So, where are we going?"

The way Hermione's hands gripped the steering wheel, it was clear that she was angry and trying to hold it in. After a minute, she finally answered. "We have to have two conversations. The first is about Tony: what you know, how you know it, and what you're going to do about it. The second is about us and why you chose to play me like a mark back there in the restaurant."

After another minute, she continued, "I'd like to take you to Tony's house. That's where I'm working, so it seems like the best place to hash all of this out."

Iris wasn't happy with that suggestion. "If we go to Tony's house, then Tony will learn everything I tell you, and I don't think that's acceptable. There are things he can't know, at least not yet; so if you want to learn more from me, then you have to pick a different spot."

Sighing, Hermione replied, "But I know his house is secure. Where else can we go?"

"We can go to my spot," Iris suggested.

"It's secure, true, but it's your private place," Hermione pointed out. "I'm mad at you, and I won't feel comfortable going to... well, your territory, for lack of a better word."

Iris thought about that and had to agree that it was reasonable. The two conversations would probably go more easily if Hermione felt more comfortable, which meant a place of hers. "Do you have a private place like mine?" Iris asked.

Hermione hesitated, then answered, "Yes, a couple in fact. One is hidden in Idaho, but it can probably be traced to me if someone tried hard enough, so it's not quite as secure as I'd like. I have another... but it's too far away for me to apparate to, and you've never been there. Besides, in my current mood I'm not sure I like the idea of taking you there. No one knows about it."

Iris frowned, concerned that Hermione had been driven to such an extreme. "If you let me look into your mind, I can get the location and apparate us there. So you'll need to decide what's more important: keeping that location secret even from me, or having a place for private conversations where you'll feel most comfortable and secure."

Iris knew that it wasn't fair asking her to make such a choice, but there weren't many options here and she was the one insisting on this conversation in the first place.

Eventually, Hermione said, "OK, I'll let you take us there, but I want your promise that you'll never tell anyone about it. This place is not merely private, it's _personal_. It means something to me." Iris could hear the emotion in Hermione's voice and didn't hesitate to make that promise.

They ended up going to Tony Stark's house first anyway. Hermione had been working so many hours on her project that she had moved into one of his spare bedrooms, so it only made sense to go there so she could leave the car. Once she had changed, though, Iris used legilimency to extract the information from Hermione's mind — making a point of taking her time and stumbling about to significantly downplay her skills.

Then, with a twist, they popped away.

* * *

 **Littledean, Gloucestershire, England.**

Iris and Hermione appeared in front of a small stone house, set back far enough in the woods that whatever road led here wasn't visible. Even though it was the middle of the night, the light of the moon combined with Iris' enhanced vision was enough for her to see that the house was old but well maintained. Everything was clean and in good repair. There were flowers planted beneath the windows, a fairly large porch, and even a swing hanging beneath one of the older trees.

"Where are we, exactly?" Iris asked as Hermione began to cast spells at her, keying her into the house's wards.

Hermione looked as though she wasn't going to answer at first, but finally her face softened slightly and she said, "This house used to belong to my grandmother on my mother's side. It's apparently been in their family for generations, and because the name associated with it is my mother's maiden name, no one can easily connect it to me. That's made it a nice refuge. It gives me a secure place to stay whenever I'm in Britain."

As she inserted the key and opened the door, she continued. "The nearest town is Littledean. We're in Gloucestershire in the Forest of Dean."

"Really?" Iris asked as she followed Hermione into the house. Neither noticed the young raven that sat in one of the older trees, watching them. "The Forest of Dean? I had no idea that you owned any property here. I only thought that your family did some camping."

"Oh, we did that, too," Hermione responded as she removed sheets that were covering the furniture. "In fact, the area in which my family went camping the most and where the two of us put up our tent is only about an hour's hike from here. I never brought us to this house, though, because I didn't want to compromise it. I wanted to save it as a last resort."

"You don't have to explain," Iris assured her with a wave of her hand. "I completely understand..." Iris paused for a minute as she processed this new information. "Wait, a last resort?" Hermione nodded. "So... when you asked about staying in the Forest of Dean, forgetting about my destiny and growing old together... you didn't mean that tatty old tent, did you?"

Hermione didn't blush or look away. She looked Iris square in the eyes and shook her head.

"You... meant here?" Iris continued. "If I had said yes, would you have brought me here? Tried to make a life... a home? Here? With me?"

Hermione nodded again.

Iris sat heavily on the newly uncovered couch and took a deep, ragged breath. "Every time I think I've plumbed the depths of how badly I've cocked things up in my life, I'm confronted with yet another massive cockup."

Hermione sat down on the couch next to Iris — close, but not too close. "No, Iris, this isn't one of them. That was just a dream. A fantasy. There was no way you could have avoided your destiny. Sooner or later you'd have had to face Voldemort. We could have moved in here, yes, but we wouldn't have been able to stay here forever. They'd have found us eventually."

Iris looked up and gave her a small smile. "I suppose," she said, "but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to spend a lot of nights now dreaming about having said "yes" to your suggestion. It may have been a fantasy, but I think it was a nice fantasy. In fact, I did dream about it quite a few times — though always in the tent of course. Sharing body heat to ward off the cold." She looked around the small living room more closely before adding, "This is definitely better than the tent. It's small, but cozy. I could see setting up house here. With you."

Now Hermione did blush a little and looked away, but it only lasted for a few seconds. Looking back at Iris, she said sternly, "I'll admit it's tempting, but that doesn't mean that you're getting out of the conversations we have to have."

Iris held up her hands in a gesture of surrender. "I'm not trying to, honest. This discussion is making me feel... nostalgic, I guess. It's bringing up a lot of old memories and feelings. Anyway, I don't suppose you have the supplies here for tea? It's not too early for tea, is it? Or too late?"

Snorting, Hermione stood and made her way to the kitchen. "Of course I've got the supplies. And of course it's not too late. Rain or shine, it's always time for tea in Britain."

Once tea was served, Hermione wasn't willing to put up with any more stalling. "OK, we have our tea. Now talk. What do you know?"

After taking a sip, Iris began, "First, what I'm about to tell you is classified. I wasn't explicitly told not to divulge any of this, but it was implied. Put simply, I'm about to break the law and could theoretically be put in a deep, dark, hole somewhere for saying this. Not that said hole could ever hold me, granted, but it's the principle of the thing."

Hermione looked suitably chastened, finally recognizing that she had been demanding that Iris break the law and risk her career.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. has received multiple pieces of intelligence pointing to the conclusion that there is something wrong with Tony Stark, probably some sort of illness," Iris continued. "No one has been able to say for sure that that is the problem, never mind what sort of illness it might be, but that's where the evidence leads." Hermione nodded at this, not surprised that Tony's odd behavior had come to other people's notice.

"I've since been able to figure out that there is something wrong with the arc reactor in his chest — something toxic that's killing him. Fury had a feeling that you might be working on helping find a cure, which makes sense because you're the only magical working for him, and I've since been able to confirm that as well."

Hermione gaped at her friend, shocked at what she'd heard. "How... what... I can't believe that you know so much already. Where'd you get that sort of information?"

"I'm not going to tell you," Iris answered directly.

"What?" Hermione cried out in indignation. "Why not?

"Simple. You're not a part of S.H.I.E.L.D.," Iris told her. "You don't have the security clearance for that kind of information. I only broke regs telling you what we do know because I was convinced that it's all information you already had, so it's not like you'd be learning anything new. But when it comes to how we develop our intelligence? Sorry, hon, but I'm not talking."

Hermione tried to get angry at that, but she was having trouble managing it. She had a long-standing habit of thinking that she had a right to any knowledge or information that existed. She knew it was wrong and that it was something she needed to keep a reign on, especially at times like this, but it could be difficult.

"Fine," she eventually ground out, not the least bit happy, but unable to formulate any sort of reasonable argument that she should be told everything.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Hermione, I really am," Iris tried to placate her. "If you were a part of S.H.I.E.L.D. you'd be privy to all this already. But you're not. I work for an intelligence and defense organization that keeps secrets — lots of secrets. That means I know lots and lots of things I can't tell you."

This calmed Hermione down. A little. Remembering that the information she was being denied wasn't simply classified, but was part of a much larger system of classified material helped remind her of her place in the grand scheme of things.

"OK," Hermione finally said, "you know a lot. So why are you here? Is that terrorist threat story a lie?"

"As to the terrorists," Iris answered, "that's hard to answer. There are lots of threats against Tony. I'm sure the threat I came here about is real. However, I doubt that it's special or unusual. I suspect that Fury grabbed one of the latest and played it up a bit. So it's not a lie, but it's not exactly a crisis, either. Certainly nothing that would justify sending in little old me to deal with."

Hermione nodded, not surprised to hear that.

"As to why I'm here," Iris continued, "My first mission is to ascertain Tony's status. Is he truly sick? Is it just a misunderstanding? If he's sick, does he need help or does he have it in hand? The answers to those questions will determine how I proceed. At the very least, I'm to keep an eye on him and report back if his condition worsens. If S.H.I.E.L.D. has something to offer, I'll be in place to make sure that the help reaches him."

Hermione nodded again, finding it all reasonable. She finished her tea and put down her cup before starting in on the next conversation. "Now," she began, "for the part that affects the two of us personally. Why the **bloody hell** did you treat me like a mark back in the restaurant? Why didn't you come and talk to me? Why didn't you approach me honestly instead of trying to wheedle information out of me with an act and half truths? We're supposed to be building trust here, Iris. How can I trust you when you treat me like that?"

Iris gaped at her, bewildered that she'd ask such questions. "Why? Why? Hermione, this is my **job**! Don't you get it? This is what I **do**. I approach people, ask questions, and get information without them realizing it."

Iris abruptly stood up and started pacing. She had never been one to easily sit still, especially when stressed. She always needed to be in motion, and she usually thought best when moving.

"What would you expect me or S.H.I.E.L.D. to do, anyway?" she asked. "We didn't know what was going on. Sure, the evidence pointed to a problem, and a health problem in particular, but we couldn't know for sure. We aren't going to storm into his office, demanding answers. We're an intelligence agency. Whenever possible, we try to act discreetly, subtly, carefully. We send someone in to look into things. If we find out that we were right, then we offer discreet help; if we were wrong, we walk away and no one is embarrassed or upset."

Iris then turned and looked directly at Hermione. "And I **did** ask you questions. Granted, I didn't lay all my cards out on the table up front, but I also didn't lie to you. I asked what you were working on. I asked how Tony was doing. I gave **you** the chance to be honest with **me**. Oh, sure, I figured that you probably couldn't — and that didn't bother me. I wasn't the least bit upset that you might have given a promise to Tony that you wouldn't say anything. How could I, since I've given a promise to S.H.I.E.L.D. to not talk about certain things? I was mostly fishing for any little tidbits of information that might fill the gaps in what I already had. If I got anything, great. If not, that was fine, too — I was most interested in spending a nice evening having dinner and maybe more with you."

Hermione was dumbfounded. She had been convinced that she was in the right here. She'd been certain of it! But everything Iris was saying made too much sense. Of course S.H.I.E.L.D. would make discreet inquiries about issues that concerned them. Of course Iris wouldn't tell her everything right at the first meeting — and that wasn't taking into account the fact that Hermione had barely paid any attention to her during the meal.

Taking a deep breath, Hermione forced out the words she rarely had to say and never particularly liked: "You're right Iris, and I'm sorry. I still don't like that you came to us — that you came to Tony at least, if not also me — under false pretenses, but now that you've explained it, I can understand why you operate that way. You can't enter a building a tell everyone what you're doing. It bothers me that you keep so many secrets and trust so few people, but that's a personal thing. Given your job and the responsibilities of S.H.I.E.L.D., it's hard to fault the general attitude."

Iris sat down again, this time closer to Hermione, and put her hand on her friend's. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry, too. I didn't like holding back on you, especially since I knew more about the situation than you realized. Because of that, you did have a point in complaining about me playing you — I pretended to be as ignorant as you assumed. But the fact is, I can't always tell you everything about what I know or what I'm doing, not even when they involve Tony Stark or Stark Industries. So there will be cases where I am obligated to play dumb. That doesn't mean that I'm deliberately lying to you, it means that I have secrets I have to keep."

Hermione nodded, then placed her other hand over Iris'. "I guess I understand. It's going to be hard getting used to it. We haven't spent enough time together yet to talk about these things."

"You're right about that," Iris agreed. "And we probably should. Unfortunately, it will be tough to do so while avoiding divulging secrets."

Hermione smiled at that, then continued. "But let's leave that aside for now. Can you offer any help for Tony?" The tone of hope in her voice was unmistakable. "I was able to modify one potion that helped reduce the symptoms for a little while, but it stopped working. I'm optimistic that further development will produce an even better potion, but I'm not sure that it will do more than hold back the symptoms for a short time."

"Sorry, there's nothing I can do to help," Iris answered. "Or at least, not at the moment. Now that I know more, I'll file a report and we'll see what happens. Maybe some of the research brains at S.H.I.E.L.D. will have something to offer, but that's not going to happen until I give them something to work with. I won't ask you to give me any details, but I'll have to ask you to keep quiet about what I'm doing."

Hermione looked uncomfortable at that, so Iris continued, "Look, my primary mission of keeping an eye on him to make sure he doesn't get any worse isn't that far off from my cover mission of keeping an eye on him to make sure terrorists don't kidnap or kill him. It's the opponent that's slightly different. Unless you think he'll be willing to turn over all his data to S.H.I.E.L.D. for review, then him knowing about me won't help you or him."

Sighing, Hermione answered, "No, he won't turn over that data. I suppose you're right that him knowing won't change anything, but it's the principle of the thing. I feel like I'm lying by not telling him — and when he finds out, he'll stop trusting me because he'll assume, rightly, that I knew but kept the information from him."

Iris leaned back in her seat to ponder that. "Yeah, you're right. You've got a good head for intelligence ops."

Hermione made a face. "I'm trying to decide if that's a compliment or an insult."

Iris smiled. "Coming from me, it's definitely a compliment. OK, you're right that you can't keep this from him, at least not forever. And you shouldn't have to. Sooner or later, I think Fury will want to talk to him, especially if we can offer any help. I'll check with Fury, but maybe we can have you spill the beans about me shortly before Fury wants to come clean anyway. That way, you preserve trust because you do tell him, but you'll also be giving me a chance to do my job, at least for a little bit."

Hermione looked dubious at that. "That still sounds like I'm deceiving him."

"Depends on how you look at it," Iris countered. "Remember, not knowing isn't hurting him and knowing won't help him. So delaying telling him by a day, a week, or a month won't change anything. Telling him now, though, might prevent me from doing my job properly, and that might deny S.H.I.E.L.D. information that they can use to help him. And we wouldn't have to do this if he'd share his data with outside researchers. Yes, I can understand why he won't, but it's still a mistake for him to assume that he can and should do everything alone."

Hermione smirked. "That's pretty rich coming from you, Iris."

"Hey," Iris said with a pout, "I've gotten better. I may still generally work alone, but I don't refuse all offers of help. Much." Looking away, she added under her breath, "I certainly wouldn't refuse any offers from you..."

Hermione gave a deep sigh. "OK, I guess I can hold off saying anything. If he asks me a direct question, I don't think I'll be able to avoid telling him the truth... or at least present the truth as suspicions I have. Outside of that, however, I'll keep your secrets. For now."

Iris smiled and said, "Thanks. I do appreciate it. Do you want to apparate back now?"

Yawning, Hermione shook her head. "No, it's getting late." With a rueful glance at the sunlight now peeking through the curtains, she added, "Well, it feels like it's late, at any rate. We can crash here and return after we've had some sleep."

Iris looked around, noticing again how small the place was. "Your house doesn't look big enough to have a spare bedroom."

Stretching as she stood up, which caused all sorts of tingling sensations for Iris, Hermione responded, "Nope, just one bed and one bedroom." Iris raised one eyebrow as she looked at Hermione, who blushed. "Don't get any funny ideas," she said. " **You** are sleeping on this couch. I'll go get you a pillow and blanket, so make yourself comfortable."

Walking away, she didn't see Iris' pout. Iris didn't see Hermione's soft smile.

For some reason, neither witch found it easy to get to sleep.


	5. Crash and Burn

**Recommendation:** Story recommendation for this chapter is "Broken Chains" by Darth Marrs. HP/Star Wars crossover. Harry falls through the Veil of Death during the battle in the Department of Mysteries. Soon he returns... but he isn't Harry anymore. He's become something much more and much worse. Can Hermione save him and, by extension, save everyone else from him? A H/Hr story, obviously, and one of the better HP/SW crossovers — in part because it raises a number of interesting ethical questions.

* * *

 **Chapter 5 - Crash and Burn**

 **Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. May 18, 2009.**

Detective Wallace carefully walked around the spilled soda, looking for anything unusual or out of place. _Well_ , he thought, _aside from a Brazilian guarana soda in the middle of Wisconsin... and an old guy who first looks like he's having a heart attack, then starts turning green._

It was sheer luck that he had been driving through the area when the call went out on the police radio. The uniforms who arrived just after the ambulance were only there as a matter of routine, but as soon as the old guy started showing bizarre symptoms, they were smart enough to put out a call for backup. So Wallace, who was already in the area, came in to see if he could help.

Needless to say, he was shocked by what he found and immediately had the house sealed. Despite how hard the old guy had struggled, the paramedics managed to get him into the ambulance and take him to the hospital, and the two uniforms were currently canvassing the neighborhood to see what they could discover.

This left Wallace to work the crime scene alone — and while no crime had been declared, he knew in his gut that a crime had been committed. Strictly speaking it wasn't against regs for him to not have anyone else here, but it was frowned upon. Regardless, he wanted to go over the scene while it was still fresh. It was too weird to justify leaving alone for any length of time.

He heard the front door of the house open, and when he turned, one of the uniforms was walking into the kitchen. "Detective," he said, "me and my partner have to go. That ambulance was involved in a major collision a few blocks from here and they need help. The call just came through on our radios."

"Alright," Wallace replied. "Go do what you can, but when you're done I'd like you back here to continue canvassing the neighbors."

The man nodded and was gone, leaving Wallace alone.

Kneeling down by the refrigerator, he looked at the spilled soda. Then he looked into the refrigerator at the sodas still sitting there, all waiting to be bagged for evidence. He couldn't see any difference between them — not that he would know what to look for. He'd never seen guarana soda before and had no idea what it was supposed to look like.

Reaching out, he dipped his forefinger carefully into the spilled soda and then lifted it up to his face, looking closely at the greenish-yellow droplet that was clinging to his fingertip. In a moment of curiosity, or perhaps insanity, he stuck out his tongue and moved his finger towards...

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you."

Wallace jumped at the voice that came from behind him, almost falling forward into the evidence.

"What the hell?" he cried out. "Who the hell are you? I didn't even hear you come in, but this is a crime scene and you're going to have to leave."

The unidentified man wearing a dark suit and dark sunglasses pulled out a plastic ID case and displayed it for the detective, revealing that he worked for the Department of Defense.

"Yeah, so?" Wallace asked. "What's the DoD got to do with this? And what authority do you think you have over a local crime scene?"

"Maybe you should go out to your car, Detective Wallace, and make a call to your commander. He's already been informed that we're taking over the scene and that your services will no longer be needed."

Wallace wanted to refuse, but something told him that that would be a bad idea. And it's not like calling this in would have been a problem; if it turned out to be a lie, he'd use the call to bring in backup.

"Alright, I'll do that," he said. "But don't touch anything in here if you know what's good for you."

After he left, the man from the DoD pulled out a small phone and hit a single button before lifting it to his ear. "Yes," he spoke into the phone, "I'm at the scene now. A team is coming to secure it, and local police are being sent away." After a moment, he continued. "Unfortunately, the subject had an extreme reaction. There were injuries, but he was tranquilized and taken into custody. Yes... I'll wait here and supervise the cleanup team."

After ending the call, he simply returned to the front door to wait.

* * *

 **Monaco, May 24, 2009.**

Hermione Granger had grown up with reasonably well-to-do parents. Dentists in Britain didn't make enough money to be considered exceptionally wealthy, but they also didn't go wanting, and with two such incomes in the house, they could regularly splurge on fancy dinners and nice vacations. At no point, however, did her parents ever take her anywhere remotely as fancy or expensive as the sorts of places she got to visit when accompanying Tony Stark and Pepper Potts.

And the owners' dining room at the Monaco Grand Prix was perhaps the fanciest and most elegant of everything she'd experience so far. Here she was, sipping champagne while hobnobbing with some of the wealthiest people in Europe. She'd have probably become lightheaded at it all if she weren't also desperately worried about so many things: Tony's health, trying to find a cure for Tony, Iris' work, Iris spying on Tony, possible terrorist threats against Tony...

"Penny for your thoughts," Pepper said to her, startling her out of her reverie. Her eyes widened momentarily as she tried to come up with a suitable lie that gave no hint of what she had been thinking about.

Quickly settling on something safe and believable, she said, "Just how elegant and fancy all of this is — it's quite a long way from the sorts of places that a daughter of dentists is used to going to."

Pepper nodded, apparently not noticing Hermione's brief moment of alarm. "I know exactly how you feel. I started out as an anonymous member of the secretarial pool in Stark Industries. It was only after I caught an accounting error that Tony made that I got noticed and was moved up — all the way up, right to his office, in fact. Sometimes it's hard to reconcile where I am and where I came from. Sometimes, I wonder if one or the other is a dream."

"That's exactly it," Hermione said fervently. "That's exactly how I feel sometimes."

"When I start feeling like that, it seems like it would be easy for me to start losing my way," Pepper said. "You can't get too caught up in the differences between your past and your present. Life is full of changes, sometimes dramatic ones. You should try to just accept them so you can focus on dealing with your life as it is today rather than getting caught up in memories or regrets about the past."

It was at that moment that Iris Potter — simultaneously Hermione's biggest reminder of her past and biggest issue of her present — chose to walk up to their table. After seeing Iris, Hermione turned to Pepper and deadpanned, "Yeah, sometimes that's easier said than done." Hermione had picked a moment when Pepper was trying to drink to say that, causing the unsuspecting woman to choke slightly on $300-per-bottle champagne.

Iris smirked as she took a place behind and between the two women's chairs and gave a slight wave of her hand. "Your timing is getting better, Hermione," she said.

Pepper's eyes widened as Hermione tried to protest her innocence. "How can you accuse me of doing that on purpose!"

"Because I know you, that's how. You never objected to pranks as much as you pretended. You just preferred more subtle ones than what the twins tended to go for." Hermione huffed and put on a show of indignation, but neither Pepper nor Iris were buying it.

"Where's Tony?" Pepper asked abruptly and started looking around, only just then realizing that he wasn't with Iris as she expected him to be. "Shouldn't you be, you know, guarding him?"

* * *

Across the room, a man who appeared to be plainclothes security spoke into a microphone hidden in the wrist of his jacket. The bug he had placed at the table where Potts and the other woman were sitting had squealed then gone out just after the auburn-haired woman had arrived. The first woman had been identified as a researcher for Stark Industries, and the second was believed to be a new personal secretary for Tony Stark.

The malfunction of the listening device was not trivial, but it also wasn't his top priority. Most important was the fact that Tony Stark was not where he was expected to be, with one or more of the three women. He needed to get that information to his superiors so they could better track Stark's movements, enabling them to help the Russian meet Stark in the most opportune setting.

* * *

"Tony went to the bathroom; said he wanted to be alone," Iris answered. "I didn't want to follow him in there, and while I am tasked with protecting him, he doesn't need monitoring absolutely every second." Iris and Hermione shared a look, both knowing why Tony might want to be alone, but unable to tell Pepper because it was Tony's secret to reveal.

Iris' words didn't appear to satisfy Pepper, who kept looking around, hoping to see Tony and getting more worried by the minute when she didn't. "Wasn't he talking to Justin Hammer a few minutes ago?" Pepper asked, wondering if she should try to find Tony by retracing his route.

"Yes, unfortunately," Iris said, clearly still annoyed by the other man.

"Didn't like being that close to him?" Hermione asked.

"Not in the least," Iris answered. "There aren't many people that I want to punch just seconds after meeting them, but he's one of them, and that's on top of the awful impression I got from him when I watched him and Tony at that Senate hearing."

"I only saw snippets on the news," Pepper said, momentarily distracted from her search. "Was it as bad as it seemed?"

Iris rolled her eyes as she answered, "Worse, probably. Tony's egotism is somewhat forgivable because it's so often justified; if anything, it's the fact that it's justified that's annoying, not the egotism itself. Hammer, though, is probably just as egotistical, but with him it's not even a fraction as warranted. And he's worse in person — more like a used car salesman than a CEO."

"You won't get any arguments from me," Hermione noted. "The things his company produces are awful — I can't believe that anyone buys them."

* * *

As it happened, Tony was indeed in a nearby bathroom, testing his blood toxicity levels... and contemplating his own mortality.

Tony Stark was dying and he knew it. He also knew that unless he or Hermione Granger came up with a near-miraculous cure soon, he wasn't going to survive. The irony of the fact that what was killing him was also what saved him a few months earlier was not lost on him.

"What are you doing with your life?" he asked his reflection. "Are you living right now, or are you merely existing? Just barely hanging on? Are you enjoying what time you might have left, or are you moping in bathrooms, feeling sorry for yourself?"

After taking a moment to look around, he said, "Well, I guess we all know the answer to that... so the real question now is, what am I going to do about it?"

After a moment's thought, he had what struck him as a fantastic idea. Not many would have agreed with that assessment, but Tony Stark had never been the sort of person who let the opinions of others interfere with his plans.

* * *

"Iris?" Hermione said in a slow, neutral voice. "That thing you said about Tony not needing to be monitored every second?"

"Yes?" Iris asked, wondering where this was going.

"You were wrong." Hermione said flatly as she pointed to the nearest TV screen. Both Iris and Pepper swiveled their heads to look and were accosted with images of Tony Stark kicking out the driver of the Stark Industries Formula 1 racing car and taking over himself. Pepper shot Iris an accusing look, and Iris herself simply stood there, gobsmacked. She really had thought that he could be trusted to be left alone in a bathroom for a few minutes.

She wouldn't be making _that_ mistake again.

On the other side of the room, the security man also looked at the TV monitor and quickly began to speak into his microphone, all thoughts about the three women temporarily banished from his mind.

While Pepper fretted over Tony's actions on the screen, Iris and Hermione shared another meaningful look. Regardless of how impulsive and immature Tony could be at times, this was a bit out of character even for him — unless, of course, one knew about his medical issues. Then behavior like this started to make all too much sense...

* * *

Sitting in his company's Formula 1 racing car, waiting for the Monaco Grand Prix to start, Tony Stark reflected on how his past choices had affected his life and how much larger such choices seem to loom when one's life starts coming to an end.

 _I've made a lot of huge decisions without a second thought, not realizing how they would change my life,_ he mused, _but now even the little choices are starting to seem huge. No time for all that now, though. Whatever time I've got left, I need to live large — it's not like I'm ever going to get another chance to do things like this!_

When the green light came up, Tony jammed his foot down on the accelerator and his car leapt forward, allowing him to pass two cars before they even reached the first turn and another three a few seconds after that. Few people knew that Tony Stark was an expert driver, and that driving fast cars was in fact one of his passions in life. Jumping into the Monaco Grand Prix wasn't a lark, and it wasn't the act of an immature or unhinged man. It was instead the attempt of one man to fully enjoy one of the things he loved most while he still had a chance to do so.

And his time was running out far quicker than he realized.

* * *

Ivan Vanko strolled along the path reserved for race course personnel and emergency workers. No one seemed to notice how unnaturally bulky he looked. No one saw the tiny device in his ear, a device which had told him that Tony Stark had decided to join the race and which was keeping him informed about where on the course his car was.

 _Arrogant, egotistical thief_ , Vanko thought. _It shouldn't surprise me that you would do such a thing, Stark, but I'll have to remember to thank you for making this easier for me._

Upon learning that Stark's car was getting close, Vanko decided that it was time to act and chose to step out onto the track through the nearest access door. Two cars swerved around him as various race course personnel started shouting at him. He neither heard nor cared what they might be saying.

Two more cars came zooming around the nearest corner, and Vanko decided that a little chaos was in order. He let his plasma whips drop down out of his sleeves and powered up the harness, burning away most of his clothing. Powered by his own arc reactor, the harness increased his strength tremendously while charging two long whips made of copper and steel. The plasma field each whip produced was strong enough to cut through almost anything.

As the two Formula 1 racing cars tried to go on either side of him, he swung his arms and the whips came down cross-ways on each car, slicing them both in half and causing the halves of each car to go spinning through the air. The shouts of anger from a few personnel suddenly turned into screams of horror from both personnel and spectators.

 _Good_ , Vanko thought, _now they know what I am capable of and will keep their distance._

* * *

Everything was being broadcast on live television, so it was all visible to those in the luxury seating area where Pepper, Hermione, and Iris had been watching the monitors. The threat not just to the spectators and drivers, but to Tony in particular, was immediately clear to each of them. While Pepper felt herself starting to panic, Iris began issuing orders.

"Hermione," she said, her voice no longer soft and welcoming but instead decisive and sharp, "I want you to stick to Pepper and to protect her. Any attempt on Tony might include an attempt on her as well. We can't take any chances, and I need to go to Tony so I can help him."

"How are you going to do that?" Hermione asked. "Apparate down to the track?"

"No," Iris said as she shook her head. "I can't risk violating the Statute of Secrecy by using magic too publicly. I can do subtle things in public, but nothing too overt, and that includes suddenly appearing out of thin air in the middle of the race course. Even if I could do that, I don't know where exactly I need to be. An image on a TV screen isn't enough."

Iris was quiet for a couple of moments, then sighed in resignation. "There's only one feasible option, a H.A.R.D. landing."

"A what?" Pepper asked.

"Sorry, no time to explain," Iris said. Hermione squeaked in surprise when Iris fisted her hand in Hermione's hair at the back of her head, craned the brunette's neck back, and leaned down to give her old friend a deep, searing kiss, then looked at the sky through one of the large windows before she jogged off in search of a quiet, private place to apparate from.

"Hermione?" Pepper asked the now-dazed witch. "Hermione, when you come back to earth, do you think you can tell me what's going on?"

"Oh, sweet Merlin," Hermione said, fear creeping into her voice. "I can't believe she's going to try something so dangerous!"

"What do you mean, dangerous?" Pepper asked, starting to get annoyed at the lack of answers.

"You remember that apparition is like teleportation, but you need to have been where you're apparating to? Or see it personally somehow?" Pepper nodded. "Well, Iris doesn't know where exactly down on the course she needs to be and couldn't easily do that anyway without violating the Statute of Secrecy — she wants to avoid the attention of magicals if she can. So she's going to use the **H.A.R.D.** landing technique: **H** igh **A** pparition, **R** apid **D** eceleration. Instead of apparating _to_ the race course, she's going to apparate a few thousand feet _above_ the race course — since it's mostly empty air, it's not too dangerous to blindly apparate there after having looked up in that part of the sky once."

Pepper blanched, but Hermione took a deep breath to continue because she wasn't done yet. "Then Iris is going to free fall until she spots a good target to land on — but she won't be able to apparate there directly because apparition preserves momentum, so she's going to have to apparate around in the air to reduce momentum then cast a strong cushioning charm before landing. And all while disillusioned, too. No one thing should be too taxing, especially for her, but doing all of it in such a short period of time will be incredibly difficult."

Pepper's eyes kept getting wider and wider as Hermione described what Iris was about to attempt. "Is that something normal that you magical people do?" she asked incredulously.

"Absolutely not!" Hermione insisted. "I'd never try it, and neither would most others. In fact, when I first heard about it, it was only a proposal that they had yet to test. I assumed it had been shelved as too dangerous. I had no idea that Iris even knew about it, much less that she thought she could do it."

Pepper shook her head and said, "That sounds way too dangerous to rely on. Happy has Tony's latest Mark V portable emergency armor, I'm calling him." She pulled out her mobile and hit a speed dial number. Once she connected to Happy, she quickly explained the situation and told him to come get her in the lounge.

"So, we've got a suit?" Hermione asked.

"Yep," Pepper said, "When Happy gets here with it, he and I are driving down onto the course to give it to Tony."

"Not without me, you're not," Hermione said firmly.

"You don't have to come," Pepper tried to argue, but Hermione held up her hand to stop her.

"Even if Iris hadn't insisted that I protect you, I'd still go." she said. "You're my friend." Pepper smiled in appreciation at that — because of the sort of work she had to do, she didn't have too many friends... especially female friends. She'd grown to like Hermione Granger quite a lot in the past few months, and it felt good to know that she'd willingly walk into danger with her.

Hermione sighed and added, "I don't know who's going to most want to kill us once this is over, Tony or Iris."

"We'll worry about that if we all survive," Pepper said as she saw Happy walk in and hold up the portable, briefcase-sized emergency suit that was attached to his wrist. "C'mon," she said as she got up, not waiting to see if Hermione was following.

* * *

The security man who had been quietly observing the three women saw none of this and was therefore unable to inform his superiors about the presence of one of Tony Stark's Iron Man suits at the race. When he observed the auburn-haired woman race off, he concluded that she might be the biggest potential threat to their plans and so chose to follow her. Much to his consternation, though, she simply ran into a ladies' restroom, forcing him to wait nearby.

After five minutes, he got tired of waiting and decided to take a chance on entering, thankful that the entire security force at the racetrack had been compromised by his organization — this would become rather awkward otherwise. He quickly discovered, though, that the room was completely empty. There were no windows, no other doors, and no vents big enough for even a child to escape through. Cursing, he called in on his miniature radio to let his superiors know that he had lost the woman. When he returned to the main lounge, he had to call in again to report that the other two were gone as well.

Neither report would make a bit of difference.

* * *

 _Falling from 5,000 feet without a parachute and while invisible is even more dangerous than it sounds — are we having fun yet?_ a small part of Iris' mind thought sourly. The rest of her mind was much too busy trying to shut out the rushing air and decreased temperature, watching out for news and security helicopters and planes (because they couldn't see her), and trying to find the optimal spot to land so she could help Tony without getting run over by a race car — including Tony's own, if she got there that fast. And she had to do it all in under thirty seconds.

Needless to say, that wasn't likely, which necessitated a number of additional apparitions, either back up, sideways, or both, all of which necessitated reorienting herself to landmarks on the ground, looking again for dangers in the air, then reconsidering possible landing locations, usually with even less time than in her first attempt. On top of all that was the fact that Tony Stark was on the ground and in danger **right now**.

She watched helplessly as the man in the strange metal harness destroyed two more cars, possibly killing their drivers in the process as they burst into blue flames and joined the previous two cars he had sliced in half. As far as Iris knew, no one had crawled out of those first two wrecks, either.

And then she could see a blue car that she was sure was Tony's enter the final turn that would bring him straight into the hands of that madman.

* * *

Ivan Vanko grinned when Tony Stark's car came around the nearest corner. He shook out his plasma whips to bring them to their full extension — no matter what sort of maneuver Tony tried, he wouldn't escape justice. As expected, he did indeed try to steer clear of Vanko: he might not have understood exactly what was going on, but Tony was no fool. Seeing the flaming wrecks behind a man in a harness with long, electrified whips was more than enough to tell him that something was wrong.

Unfortunately, there wasn't nearly enough room on the track for him to avoid what was coming. As he swerved, Vanko brought both of his plasma whips down on his car, cutting it into three pieces. Fortunately for him, both of the whips missed his body; and while the front and back pieces of the car went flying, the middle, where Tony sat, tumbled and slid but otherwise kept him safe as it spun towards the earlier wrecks.

 _Excellent_ , Vanko thought, _I don't want you dying quickly out here, Tony. I want you to be humiliated and laid low in front of the world first._

Vanko turned to face Tony and as a result failed to notice the sudden, large cracks that appeared in the pavement about ten meters behind him.

* * *

After one starting apparition, five reverse apparitions, and two sideways apparitions, Iris had finally been able to identify a spot to land. In order to land, though, she had to do two more reverse apparitions precisely enough to leave her facing the opposite direction so as to bleed off as much of her momentum as possible, then she cast a massive cushioning charm directly below her as well as a similarly strong _Arresto Momentum_ on herself. The latter spell, unfortunately, only worked well when cast on another.

The development of this technique for covert combat insertion had been cancelled for a good reason: put simply, it didn't work. Everyone who tested it died, and messily. That, and her desire to avoid doing too much powerful magic, was why she'd only ever tried this once before. _And it will be quite a while before I try it again, too_ , she thought as she grimaced and tried to stifle a moan of pain.

In spite of everything Iris had done to protect herself, she still hit the ground with enough force to turn the average human body into jelly, and it was only the extent to which extreme amounts of magic had hardened and enhanced her bones and muscles that she was still alive. That didn't mean she wasn't hurt, though. She could still fight, but only because she had also applied strong numbing charms to herself. Even if nothing else happend to her, she'd be laid up for several days while her body healed from the impact.

But first, she needed to deal with a problem that currently had its back turned towards her. Under most circumstances, this person probably wouldn't even amount to a headache, much less a real threat, but Iris couldn't afford to break the Statute of Secrecy — not simply because it was the law, but because she didn't want to draw the attention of the various magical ministries to herself.

She wasn't currently wanted by any of them, but she had disappeared from the magical world for good reasons. She didn't want to be drawn back in as the Woman Who Conquered, and she certainly didn't want anyone to think that there was anything unusual about her magic, leading to her becoming a lab rat. She wanted to be forgotten, and that meant she needed to approach public problems like this with a lot more subtlety than even she was accustomed to using.

 _I can cast low power spells invisibly_ , she considered, _but with their power dialed down that low, they might not affect this man enough. I have no idea what that powered harness does for him. Direct damage spells would probably work on him, but I'd need to put so much power in them that they'd become visible — and streaks of light coming out of nowhere would be recognized by someone._ Iris stopped for a moment and shook her head, suddenly overcome by a strong urge to let loose on the man, regardless of the consequences. _Focus!_ she berated herself.

 _Conjuration and transfiguration wouldn't work because there'd be no explaining random animals that suddenly appeared on the race track. I don't understand what that harness is, so I can't visualize transfiguring it directly. Water might be great — if that's electricity that's running along his whips, he'd electrocute himself if I put enough down, but a pool of water can't appear out of nowhere like that. So that leaves indirect spells for me to use. Maybe there are a couple of minor prank spells that will make it easier for Tony to beat this guy?_

All of these ideas were going through Iris' head as she carefully approached the man from behind, and she was almost caught by one of the plasma whips when he drew his arm back to attack the remnants of Tony's car. Iris dove out of the way and tried to avoid the wrecks of cars which she and Vanko were now walking among, all the while cursing herself for not paying closer attention. Vanko sliced the middle portion of Tony's car in half, but Tony had already gotten out and was running in Iris' direction so he could get around and behind Vanko.

Vanko spun and used his other whip to attack, slicing up the road behind Tony - it was only because of Iris' quick reflexes and a silent, low-powered banishing spell that he wasn't hit. He did, however, go flying several meters forward against one of the earlier wrecks. Fortunately, it was one of the wrecks that wasn't currently on fire.

* * *

Tony shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs and thankful that he hadn't hit the car head first. When Tony looked down at what was left of the driver, he was suddenly uncertain about whether he'd survive this, yet also wondering why none of the track's security had shot this guy in the head yet.

"Tony!" Vanko called out, "Are you having fun yet? I am!"

"Who the hell are you?" Tony cried out as he turned back around to face his attacker, wanting to know who was trying to kill him **this** time.

"Ivan Vanko," the man said, "an old family friend, here to pay my respects."

The three of them were now arranged on the race track in a triangle, though the two men were unaware of Iris' presence. Before Iris could take proper stock of the new situation and decide on how best to help Tony, a prickling on the back of her neck caused her to turn around, allowing her to see a green race car coming right at her. _Shit!_ Iris thought. _He won't swerve because he can't see me!_ Once again, Iris was diving and rolling to get out of the way in the nick of time. _I'm supposed to be better than this_ , she cursed herself.

As she stood up again, she watched Vanko slice the green race car in two, sending one half flying in Tony's direction. "A gift for you, Tony," he said with a flourish.

Tony had the presence of mind to dive out of the way, and the pieces of the car flew above and past him. It was then that Iris saw what appeared to be a Rolls Royce come barreling around the far corner, driving in the opposite direction of normal race traffic. All three of them froze for a second as they stood there incredulously watching the out-of-place vehicle come straight at them.

Vanko recovered first and used his plasma whips to cut this new car into pieces. As soon as he started to move, Iris recognized the driver as Happy Hogan, which meant that the car was Tony Stark's... which could only mean that the two indistinct people behind the tinted glass in the back were Pepper and Hermione.

"Do you need your woman here to save you, Tony?" Vanko taunted.

Iris saw red as the car split and the half with her love went flying up in the air. She paid the front half with Happy no mind because it remained on the ground — he was screaming, but she knew in a split second that he should be fine so long as the man with the whips ignored him.

Iris was about to reach out with her magic and catch the back half of the car, the Statute of Secrecy be damned, when she recognized the blue shimmer of a _protego_ shield come up across the exposed end of the back half of the car. Iris knew that while Hermione might be too out of practice to engage in direct combat right now, her spellcasting hadn't weakened over the years, and so Iris trusted that her shield would be enough to protect both her and Pepper from the impact of the crash.

The front half of the car with Happy slammed into the wall near Vanko and on the opposite side of the track. While Tony went to help the women in the back half of the car, Vanko chose to strike at Happy in the front half. When his plasma whip hit the chain link fence on top of the wall, Iris softly incanted _"Epoximise!"_ casting a sticking charm on the metal fence to prevent him from pulling it back for a second strike and distracting him too much to think of using his second whip.

Vanko would pay for nearly killing Hermione, but first Iris had to get her out of the line of fire.

* * *

While Vanko was struggling on the other side of the race track, Tony ran towards the back half of his car which had crashed against the wall. He was amazed at first to find both Pepper and Hermione unharmed — shaken up, but unharmed. Then he saw that Hermione had her magic stick out and he concluded that she must have used some of her mojo to keep them both safe.

He was still skeptical about magic — he was skeptical about anything which couldn't be quantified and described with science — but if it kept Pepper and Hermione safe, he wasn't going to complain. There was also the fact that he always felt a little funny whenever Hermione or Iris were around, but he hadn't figured out what that was about.

"Ladies, allow me," Tony said as he gallantly helped them out of the car. He was about to demand to know what they were doing there when Happy ran up, having extricated himself from the front half of the car while Vanko was distracted. It was then that Tony realized that Happy was carrying the football, thus explaining why they were all there.

"Here you go, boss," Happy said, huffing and puffing. With a feral grin, Tony unlocked the chain holding the emergency suit to his wrist and dropped it to the ground to activate it.

Before he could step into it, though, Hermione leaned in close and whispered, "Iris is already here, invisible. She'll help."

Tony nodded and then ignored everything else but Vanko as the Mark V unfolded and molded itself around his body. He watched Vanko finally send a massive power surge through his plasma whip, allowing him to rip it free from the metal fence, but didn't see as an invisible force pulled Happy and Pepper by their arms through the nearest access door and off the track, away from danger.

* * *

Hermione followed Happy and Pepper as they were dragged away by the invisible Iris, though reluctantly because she hated running from a fight — especially a fight that she knew Iris was going to be walking back into shortly. She'd always fought by Iris' side when they were younger, and it felt wrong to not do so now.

However, she also knew that she couldn't easily support Iris while the other witch was invisible, whereas Happy and Pepper could definitely benefit from backup. "Iris," she whispered, holding on tight to the invisible hand to prevent her from leaving immediately. "How are you holding up?'

"I hurt, but I'll manage," came the response. "Vanko, however..."

"I meant your control," Hermione said, gripping the hand even more tightly.

"He... he almost killed you," Iris said in a deep, pained voice.

"But he didn't," Hermione said, trying to sound reassuring. "I'm fine. Pepper is fine. You, however, **won't** be fine if you can't hold it together." She could hear Iris take several deep, ragged breaths.

"Alright. I'll... I'll try. I..." Whatever she was going to say next was cut off by shrieking and tearing metal from the racetrack, and when they looked, both witches could see Vanko sending surges of energy through his whip as he ripped it free from the chain-link fence.

"Gotta go," Iris announced as she ripped her hand free from Hermione's grasp.

* * *

 _Can energy from the arc reactor counter magical spells?_ Iris wondered as she ran back onto the track. She was intrigued because S.H.I.E.L.D. would want to have this information — it might come in handy if magical society ever became a threat to world peace. She was worried, though, because it could prove to be a weakness for her personally as well. _I'll have to find a way to do some tests to see how much power from an arc reactor is needed to overwhelm my magic_ , a part of her mind noted as she watched Iron Man move to engage the man in the harness. _He should be the one to defeat this maniac, but that doesn't mean that I can't toss in a spell or two here and there to help out._

At first Tony was able to knock the plasma whips away with shots from his repulsors, but he wouldn't be able to keep it up forever. Inevitably one of Vanko's strikes managed to hit Tony, wrapping around his suit and causing significant damage, at least from what Iris could see. _I don't know if that's because his emergency suit is weaker than average or if Vanko's whips are that strong_ , Iris considered. _Maybe both_.

"Not so tough now, are you, Tony?" Vanko called out. "You hide yourself inside a metal shell, but all shells can be cracked. How much more will it take for me to crack your shell, huh, Tony?" Suddenly Iris could see increased power flowing along the whip which was wrapped around Tony and his suit, damaging it even further. This time, it also looked as though Tony might have been in some pain as well.

When Vanko tried to send his second whip against his quarry, Tony was able to lift one arm and grab the whip out of the air. With a flick of his wrist, he caused the whip to wrap around the arm — that kept the second whip out of the fight, but also started causing significant damage to that arm of the suit.

"Didn't your parents bother teaching you," Tony said, "to keep your hands to yourself?" His words were flippant, but Iris could hear the effort behind them.

The power running through the whips visibly increased as Vanko growled out, "Don't you talk about my parents, Tony. You have no right to mention them to me. No right at all!"

With the amount of power being put out by the whips, Iris couldn't get too close, but she also couldn't easily help if she stayed too far back. Added to that was the recent revelation of how arc reactor power seemed to affect magic. _Will my low-power spells even work on him?_ she wondered.

There was no more time for thought, however, as Tony went down on one knee and Vanko started laughing maniacally. As she looked around for some idea, she noticed the growing puddles of various fluids that had leaked all over the raceway, finally giving Iris an idea she could run with. Approaching as closely as she dared, despite how badly her hair was standing up because of all the unfamiliar energy charging the air, she softly incanted " _Glacius!_ " at the asphalt beneath Vanko's feet. The freezing spell was capable of transforming water into ice several inches thick, but at such low power it only created a thin sheen of ice from the moisture in the air — and that was all Iris needed.

Surprised by his sudden loss of stability, Vanko desperately sought purchase as his feet began sliding this way and that. Tony noticed the change and immediately started to stand in order to take advantage of the opportunity, but Iris wasn't done yet — she didn't want to give Vanko a chance to regain control over the situation.

Just as quietly as before, she cast a low-powered tripping jinx at Vanko, causing him to lose his footing entirely. His wide eyes betrayed his shock when he tumbled over and landed on his back with an audible crunch. He was even more shocked when Tony leapt forward and reached down to rip the arc reactor out of the harness. A quick jab from his other hand sent Vanko into unconsciousness.

Tony stepped carefully away from the downed man, working hard to avoid slipping himself even as the ice evaporated in the midday sun. He crushed the arc reactor in his fist and called out, "Thanks, Iris. I owe you one."

Still invisible, she walked up close to him and said softly, "I'll go check on Pepper and Happy, though I'm sure Hermione has them safe. Do you think you can stay out of trouble long enough for me to do that?"

Snorting, which sounded strange coming out of his suit, Tony said, "I think I can manage on my own for a few minutes."

"I hope you're sure," Iris responded as she turned to walk away, bringing one arm up to grasp her side as the numbing charms started to wear off. "Didn't turn out so well the last time I left you by yourself. Don't think that I'm going to forget that, Tony."

Tony sighed softly to himself, wondering if it had been such a good idea to start living large. Down the track, he could see the approach of police, security, and emergency vehicles and wondered how he was going to explain all of this to the authorities and the press.

 _Maybe I should have become a recluse like Howard Hughes_ , he lamented, opening the faceplate of his suit so he could deal with the oncoming police.


	6. Rest and Revelation

**Recommendation:** Story recommendation for this chapter is "Harry Potter: Geth" by mjimeyg. A HP/ME crossover, Harry gets hit with a "luck" spell during the final battle, but because of his innate bad luck, he isn't the beneficiary of the good luck of the spell, causing him to end up far in the future where the Geth expect him to help them... well, fix everything. This story is categorized as "humor" for a reason.

* * *

 **Chapter 6 - Rest and Revelation**

 **Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. May 24, 2009.**

Emil Blonsky reflected on his life and choices as he rode in the transport van on the way to the target's location. He knew that it was a bad idea to let himself get distracted like that, but he found himself doing it more and more as he got older. He was a fighter and hadn't regretted any of his decisions — not his decision as a youth to join the military, not the one to join the Royal Marines, not the choice to accept duty with SOCOM, and not the multiple times he had turned down promotions so he could stay in the field.

No lack of regret in the world, though, could help his back when it ached in the rain, or his knees when they started giving out after running ten kilometers, or his stiffening finger joints. He was getting old — thirty-nine was practically ancient for a combat soldier — and his body was showing more and more signs of all the wear, tear, and damage he'd inflicted on it while in the field.

He didn't regret his decisions, and he lived for missions like this, but he'd give almost anything to have a younger, stronger, more durable body again.

"We're approaching target location," Major Kathleen Sparr announced. "We're entering the Rocinha district outside of Rio de Janeiro. This is the largest favela in Brazil and it has nearly 70,000 people living in it, all packed in dense neighborhoods that are clinging to the hillside above Rio."

"So while you have live rounds," General Ross continued, "you want to avoid using them — we don't need a bloodbath out there. Stick to your clips of tranq darts and your suppression ordinance. We want him alive. Maybe not in one piece, but alive."

"It's one target, right?" Blonsky asked.

"Yes," Sparr said. "Bruce Banner, a former research scientist. He's wanted for stealing government secrets and various agencies want to question him in the deaths of two other scientists, a state trooper in Idaho, and two Canadian hunters."

"He's a fighter, then?" Blonsky asked. "What sort of resistance can we expect? Is he armed?"

"If you tranq him fast like you're supposed to," Ross responded, "you won't have to worry about resistance or fighting."

Blonsky suddenly didn't like Ross quite as much as he had at the start of the mission and wondered if he should have turned down the request from General Joe Greller to take part in this mission. As a soldier, he was used to taking orders, but he needed to know everything possible about a target so as to minimize the risks to himself and his own men. He didn't like going in blind, and he had a feeling that Ross was withholding something important...

* * *

Bruce Banner slept fitfully, thinking about the online chat he'd had earlier that day with the mysterious Mr. Blue, who was now demanding more data about Bruce's condition. He would have loved to have given the person more, but everything he wanted was back home... home in Culver City with Betty. It was the one place he felt he couldn't go, and now his subconscious was plaguing his dreams with thoughts of Betty and better times.

Suddenly, he was wide awake and alert. A dog had been barking outside but abruptly stopped, making no more noise. That wasn't normal, and his own dog was starting to get a bit antsy.

 **Move. Threat.** _ **Run**_ **.**

Bruce didn't get warnings like that often, but he'd learned to heed them when he did. The Other Guy didn't like being ignored, and if there was one thing that both of them agreed on, it was that neither wanted to be caged.

* * *

 **High Security Prison, Unidentified Location, France. May 25, 2009.**

Iris did not like prisons, not even a little bit. Her one time sneaking into Azkaban to dispense some long-delayed justice had permanently turned her off of all prisons, but Tony had insisted on coming here — _wherever here is_ , she thought — so he could confront Vanko personally. That meant Iris had to be here as well to watch his back. She didn't trust prisons, she didn't trust any of the mealy-mouthed politicians that were surrounding them, and she didn't trust this entire Merlin-bedamned situation.

"This is completely irregular," one of the politicians complained in French, perhaps hoping that his objections would go unnoted by the American guests. "We shouldn't be doing this, not even for him. Who does he think he is, anyway, demanding access to a prisoner here?"

 _Where did this Vanko guy come from?_ Iris asked herself for what must have been the thousandth time in the last twenty-four hours. _Where did he get his technology? And how did he manage to get it all inside the security perimeter of the Monaco Grand Prix?_ As with all the times she asked herself these questions, she couldn't come up with any answers, and she hadn't heard back yet from Fury. _Hopefully I'll get something in a few minutes_ , she thought.

"It's a small favor to grant, and Mssr. Stark has done many important things for France," replied another. "There will be no harm done to the prisoner, he has assured us, and we will gain some goodwill that we can use later."

On top of everything else, Iris still hadn't recovered from her H.A.R.D. landing the day before. Hermione had thrown a fit that morning when Iris got out of bed and cast another overpowered numbing charm on her body so she could accompany Tony into France for this meeting. _It was almost as big as the fit she threw yesterday once we were all alone_ , Iris thought with a private smile, _though at least yesterday I got what felt like a five-minute kiss before she proceeded to berate me for my stupid, suicidal plans._

Iris almost started grinning. _Maybe if I play my cards right I'll get a sympathy massage when we get back to the hotel. I can blame all my pain on Tony._

Iris was pulled out of her thoughts by their arrival at the visiting room which the French prison authorities had set aside for Tony and Vanko.

"Just five minutes," Tony said. "I need to talk to him."

The prison official nodded, then looked at Iris for a moment before turning back to Tony. "Just you, Mssr. Stark. Not the woman."

Only Iris' training combined with pain seeping through her numbing charm kept her from standing straighter and glowering at the man. Tony recognized the seeds of a confrontation and stepped in, saying, "She's my personal secretary and will be taking notes so I can concentrate on him rather than on remembering every detail of what he says."

The official frowned and seemed to want to hold his ground, but finally he relented. "Very well, but she must stay by the door where we can get to her quickly if her safety is compromised."

Tony thanked him and immediately stepped into the room so he could get this conversation with Vanko over with.

Iris did indeed stay back by the door as the two men spoke, absently doodling on a notepad to give the appearance of taking notes. She didn't care much about what they were saying — contrary to what Tony told the official outside, he'd remember every word of their conversation. He'd also understand any technological jargon better than she would.

"The cyclic rate you chose was a bit low for the power output you used," Tony was saying. "You could have easily increased rotations by two or even three times, creating a more efficient power matrix and a more flexible delivery rate."

No, Iris' focus was on the man himself — how he held his body, how he moved, and how he delivered his words.

"Sending the repulsor energy along ionized plasma channels was effective," Tony continued, "but it would have damaged your equipment in the long run."

Unfortunately, Vanko was sitting with his back to the door and stubbornly refused to turn around, so she couldn't use Legilimency on him as she'd hoped to. _If I'm going to get any answers to the questions I've been asking myself_ , she thought, _this will be the fastest and probably most reliable way, but only if Vanko turns around and makes sufficient eye contact. I can't get any closer without alarming the men outside, and I can't ask Tony to do something without alerting him to the fact that I can subtly pull out surface thoughts, not simply mind-rape a person until they are a vegetable._

All she could do is stand by the door, observe him, and hope for an opportunity.

"You are the product of a family of thieves and butchers," Vanko said to Tony. "And like all other guilty men, you strut around the world in an attempt to rewrite your history. To cover up your true legacy."

Vanko was half-turned now, but not enough for Iris to make eye contact. She stared intently at him, willing him to turn a little further while Tony taunted him over his failure.

"Failure? You think I've failed? Oh, no, Tony, I've not failed. People will cease to believe in God if you can make Him bleed," Vanko said, "and once blood is in the water, the sharks will come."

 _Turn!_ Iris wanted to shout aloud, but the Russian refused to cooperate.

"Hey, Tony. Before you leave," Vanko went on, turning a bit more as Tony made his way to the door.

 _Yes!_ Iris thought as Vanko finally turned his body enough for them to make eye contact. _He just needs to look at me instead of at Tony..._

"Palladium in the chest," he continued, "is a painful... way..." His words trailed off slowly as he finally noticed Iris and met her eyes.

 _"Kto vy?"_ he asked, apparently either thinking that she was Russian or simply reverting to his native tongue in his apparent surprise. He then narrowed his eyes and tried to stand. _"_ _ **Shto**_ _vy?"_ he demanded this time, clearly growing more upset.

The prison officials outside didn't even wait for Tony to open the door. They entered in force, pulling Tony and Iris out while guards surrounded Vanko and shoved him back down to the bench.

"Well, that was creepy," Tony said as they were ushered through the prison. "Pity we didn't get any good information out of him."

"I wouldn't say that," Iris responded, though she was inclined to agree with Tony far more than she was willing to admit. His body language had been informative: he was not afraid. On the contrary, he remained quite confident and self-assured. His words at the end were even more interesting: he had been on a mission and believed that he had accomplished it. He also demonstrated that he was intelligent enough to figure out what was ailing Tony.

It was the Legilimency that had been a disappointment. Iris had been sure that she'd be able to get a little actionable intel out of his mind — as long as he was talking to Tony, he would be thinking about what he'd done, and there would be a few stray thoughts that she could use. Unfortunately, all she could discover was that he had gotten help — but he didn't seem to know who his mysterious benefactors were. A couple of faces had flitted by quickly, and she could search S.H.I.E.L.D. databases for them, but otherwise she hadn't learned much more than she already knew, which infuriated her.

There was also the question of what exactly he meant by asking first who she was and then **what** she was. That disturbed her. _Did he recognize me? Could he sense my magic somehow?_

But the growing pain was getting to be too much for her to worry about that right now.

"You going to be alright?" Tony asked, his voice laced with concern.

"I will once we get back to the hotel," Iris said stiffly. "I really, really need to lie down and stay down for a while."

Tony snorted. "I'm pretty sure that I heard Hermione tell you the exact same thing this morning. And I was on the other side of a fairly thick wall when she said it, too."

Iris groaned. "I know, don't remind me, but I needed to be here. Just... get me back to the hotel and I promise to be good."

"I'll hold you to that," Tony responded. "Better yet, I'll tell Hermione you made the promise, and **she'll** hold you to it." All he got was a glare in response, which of course he found amusing.

 _I hope I can wheedle that massage out of Hermione_ , Iris thought as she struggled to keep up the appearance of being fit and healthy.

* * *

 **Gulfstream G550, Somewhere Over the Atlantic Ocean. May 26, 2009.**

The flight in his modified corporate jet was quiet and smooth, but Tony Stark's own mind was anything but. He had been inclined to dismiss Vanko's parting words as the ramblings of a madman, but Iris' comments forced him to reconsider. Then he remembered that Vanko's statement about his palladium meant that he was scarily perceptive, not simply smart with technology. _Good thing he didn't get a chance to say enough for Iris to catch on._

So he reconsidered Vanko's parting words and he wasn't happy with the direction his thoughts were taking him.

 _Have I set myself up as a god?_ he wondered. _No — even with my ego, I've not tried to do_ _ **that**_ _. But that doesn't mean that people haven't looked at me in a similar way: as someone or something more than human. As being above humanity. I certainly didn't ask for it, but perhaps if you set yourself up as the protector of people, you'll get put on a pedestal of some sort._

Taking another drink of whiskey, he pondered the idea of there being blood in the water now. _Pretty hard to deny that_ , he admitted. _I never acted like Iron Man was invincible, that would be silly; but I'm sure some have assumed unconsciously that I was. Now, though, they know for sure that I'm not. Competitors, detractors, and enemies will be coming out of the woodwork, and faster than they were before._

It was Vanko's accusations about coming from a family of thieves and butchers that had struck a nerve, however. He could admit that Stark Industries shouldn't keep creating military weapons, but he wasn't willing to say that either he or his father were butchers. _He and I sincerely wanted to contribute to the defense of the nation with advanced technology — and we succeeded, too! Where did he get that garbage about "thieves," though? When has a Stark ever stolen an idea or design?_

No, Tony Stark wasn't happy at all; worse, he had no idea what he was going to do about it. Right now, though, he had more pressing matters to attend to. Like dying.

Oh, and then there was that niggling issue of what Vanko had meant with his questions to Iris. Jarvis informed him that Vanko had asked _who_ she was and then _what_ she was — and he seemed especially agitated when he asked that second question, much more so than with anything he had said to Tony. It was curious, to say the least, and a far more interesting mystery than the rest of what he said.

 _I wonder if it has anything to do with how I've felt around Iris and Hermione? Previously I just felt a bit odd, but yesterday I felt uncomfortable down on the track_ , he thought.

* * *

Iris was laid out on her back in the bed that had been set up across the two sets of facing double seats. True to her word, she had not only gone right to bed when she returned to the hotel the previous day, but she had allowed herself to be taken in a wheelchair to the airport — though only under duress and at the point of Hermione's wand. Avoiding any unnecessary activity had been good for her, to be honest, and she was already improved from the day before. The drugs she'd been given were probably helping with that.

She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she was enjoying having an excuse to relax. She was enjoying the attentions of a particular bushy-haired witch even more, but _that_ she'd have happily admitted, had anyone asked.

Hermione was stretched out next to Iris on the aisle side of the bed, propped up on one elbow and stroking the other witch's hair while she whispered to her. Whether it was to comfort Iris, to comfort herself, or simply to prevent Iris from getting out of bed was anyone's guess. The perpetually worried look on her face suggested it was all three.

"I'm glad you're getting better," Hermione said softly, trying to keep their conversation private.

"Hmmm..." Iris said with a half-smile. It had been ages since she'd been touched in such a tender, affectionate manner, disregarding a few one-night stands, and she had forgotten what it was like to experience the gentle stroking of someone who loved her. Given how tentative her relationship with Hermione was right now, she wasn't going to waste this time or take it for granted — she was going to immerse herself in the sensations while she could.

"Whatever possessed you to try such a crazy thing, anyway?" Hermione asked. Iris knew what "crazy thing" she meant because she'd asked this question more than once since the incident at the racetrack, but each time there had been other matters that diverted the conversation.

"And where did you find out about it?" she added. _That_ was a new question.

Iris opened her eyes and realized that she couldn't delay this particular discussion any longer. Well, not by much. "You first: how did **you** find out about it? With my chosen profession, I've at least got a legitimate excuse."

Frowning a little, Hermione answered, "I overheard Ron talking about it to Ginny one evening. This was back when he was in auror training, before he decided to work with George instead. I realized pretty quick that it was a secret project that he probably shouldn't have been blabbing about, but our relationship was already rocky at that time, and I didn't feel like having an argument. I think he was hoping to be selected to test it."

Iris snorted. "Good thing he wasn't. Everyone who tested it died."

"What?" Hermione said, her voice rising. "Died? All of them? And you decided that it was a good idea for **you** to try it out?"

"Hermione," Iris said, "that wasn't my first time. I'm a woman with a bit of experience, you know."

Hermione stopped herself from ranting and looked at the green-eyed witch, then smiled slightly and said, "Oh?" There was a touch of mirth in her voice that Iris didn't catch immediately.

"Well, yes," Iris responded, then she stopped as she processed her own words. "No! I didn't mean **that**. Not in **that** way!"

Hermione raised both eyebrows in a questioning expression and said, "Oh?" dragging the sound out a bit more than she had the first time.

"Wait, no, I **am** ," Iris sputtered, "But not... I mean... I just..." Slapping her hand over her eyes, she groaned out, "Oh, Merlin, shoot me now."

Hermione's amused laughter rang throughout the pressurized cabin, causing Tony to look up from his brooding and smile a little at their obvious good humor — the first time he had smiled in over forty-eight hours. Pepper had already been watching and smiling at their affectionate behavior.

Hermione put one arm over Iris and leaned in against her head as she continued to shake with laughter. After a few moments she pulled back and said, "I don't remember you being quite this easy!"

"Who said I'm easy?" Iris shot back, finally starting to get her wits about her. "You need to at least buy me flowers and a nice dinner first."

Hermione laughed some more.

"And besides," Iris added petulantly, "you've drugged me. That's hardly fair."

That did nothing to abate Hermione's mirth, but after a minute she did stop laughing and regarded Iris with a wide smile. Before she could say anything, Iris gestured with her head in Tony's direction and said, "He hasn't been taking this too well."

"I'm not surprised," Hermione said in a low voice, again trying not to be heard. "First his condition, then an attempt on his life..."

"It's not easy living with a death sentence," Iris added softly.

Hermione's eyes widened slightly in comprehension. "Maybe you should talk to him?" she suggested.

"Not until I can officially know about his condition," Iris pointed out. "Vanko nearly let the kneazle out of the bag back in the prison, but he stopped when he saw me."

Hermione bit her lip for a moment before saying, "If you'll let me tell him some of your story, I can try using that to convince him to approach you."

Iris cocked her head a little in thought for a moment, then responded, "OK, but only if you make it clear to him that you're telling him things in confidence. I trust **you** not to blab about my personal history, but I don't know him well enough to assume that he wouldn't blurt something out inadvertently."

Hermione nodded. "Don't worry. I may not be able to extract a magical oath from him, but he'll understand that there would be consequences to breaking confidence."

Smiling, Iris said, "What, are you going to threaten to turn him into a toad? Or maybe a newt, perhaps?"

"If I have to," Hermione said, smiling back. "Speaking of Tony, do you have any idea what happened to that guy's harness?"

"I saw a couple of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents there, so I think we have it now. Tony may have crushed the arc reactor powering it, but there's still plenty that can be learned from the rig."

Hermione considered that. "Do you think they'll share any of their findings?"

"Maybe," Iris said, "at least if it's Tony asking. He is the leading expert on this sort of technology — it wouldn't make much sense hiding anything from him. But it's not my call to make. I'm not in charge."

Hermione frowned slightly, thinking about that and what sorts of information she and Tony might be missing out on. Taking a deep breath, she returned to the original subject. "So, how did you find out about the H.A.R.D. landing project?"

Resigned to having to finally discuss this, Iris explained, "After I left Britain's magical community, I didn't stay away entirely. Before I signed on officially with S.H.I.E.L.D., I decided that it might be good if some of my records in the Ministry of Magic 'disappeared.' So using some of the muggle and magical skills I'd picked up, I broke in and tracked down what I could. While I was there, I took a peek at some of the special projects that were in development — you know, just in case I saw something that tickled my fancy." She shrugged and concluded, "That was one of them."

Hermione looked as though she couldn't decide what she should be more outraged about: that Iris had broken into the Ministry of Magic, that she had tried to erase her own existence there, that she had stolen a top secret idea, or that she had done all of this without taking the time to contact her. Finally, she seemed to decide to just huff about them all simultaneously and said, "And what gave you the idea to try it despite the fact that it killed everyone else?"

Iris shrugged again. "I could tell that the fundamental problem was that their bodies couldn't handle the force of impact — nothing they did could reduce their descent speed enough, and they tried a lot of different solutions before giving up. I figured I could do better and that with my body enhanced by so much magic, I could more easily survive, especially if I could reduce my speed a bit more than they managed." Looking up at Hermione, she added, "I was right."

"Right? Hermione asked incredulously. "You only barely survived, and look at how much you injured yourself!"

Iris tried to look apologetic but wasn't successful. "Sorry," she said, "but I needed to get to Tony. And it worked, didn't it?"

"That's no excuse," Hermione said, her voice softer now and concern edging back into it. "I thought I might lose you once I remembered how dangerous it was." She started stroking Iris' hair again, receiving a soft, pleased murmur in response as Iris closed her eyes. "Please don't do that again, OK?"

Iris opened her green eyes again and looked directly into Hermione's brown ones. "I can't promise that, love," she said. "It's part of my job. But I will promise that I'll be as careful as I can and that I'll always try my best to come back to you." Taking Hermione's hand in her own, she added, "That is, if you'll have me."

Hermione's only response was to lean forward into Iris again and pull her close. She wasn't ready to make any sort of commitment yet, but she also didn't want to let this maddening witch get too far away from her, either. Not again.

* * *

Pepper Potts observed the people around her and was alternately worried and amused. When she looked at Tony, she was worried — a condition that she probably should have been used to by now, especially given how he'd been acting in recent months. Whatever had been bothering him seemed to have been superseded by the incident at the Grand Prix. That was hardly a surprise, but Pepper had hoped that spending the weekend in Monaco would ease his tension, not add to it.

 _What a bust that idea was_ , Pepper thought as she took another drink of water and looked at her long-time employer and friend. _Tony needs to relax and let go for a bit. He needs an excuse to set all his worries aside and just enjoy himself — preferably without some murderous lunatic attacking him._

Suddenly, she remembered that it was almost Tony's birthday. _How could I have forgotten that!_ she berated herself silently. _It's only three days away, so I'll have to get moving to get it organized, but I'm sure I can throw something together that he'll love._

While contemplating menus and guest lists, her attention wandered over to the bed where Iris and Hermione were stretched out and murmuring softly. She had been enjoying the blooming friendship between herself and Hermione, and as that friendship had developed, so had her concern for her new friend. The auburn-haired witch's reassurances notwithstanding, she had become worried about how Hermione's relationship with Iris would proceed. It was obvious that Iris had hurt Hermione before, and Pepper didn't want her to do it again.

Pepper was protective of her friends, even new ones, and wouldn't hesitate to step in to protect Hermione from Iris if she thought the latter woman was acting inappropriately.

However, watching the two of them over the past couple of days, and especially the past couple of hours, she felt her worries mostly dissipate. Despite the long separation and the difficulty they had in getting together over the past few months, she could easily see how well they clicked and how easy it was for them to resume affection and even intimate interaction without any awkwardness.

 _I've never known any lesbian couples_ , she realized, _but then again, I've never known any witches, either. At least, not that I've ever been aware of. Love seems to be the same for everyone, though, gay or straight, magical or non-magical. Anyone can see not only how much those two are in love, but also how good they'll be for each other. I wonder how long it will take for them both to admit that openly, to themselves and everyone else._

Her gaze drifted back to Tony, and she wondered how long it would take for _him_ to start admitting some things, too.

* * *

 **Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. May 27, 2009.**

During the mission debriefing, which only he attended because he was the only member of the team who could still walk, Blonsky grew even more certain that he didn't like General Ross very much. "The target was not alone, sir. We had him, I know we did, then something massive came out of nowhere and hit us. It was taking us apart like we were children! The tranq darts bounced off of it. Even our live ammo just bounced off! I had a forklift thrown at me — I've never even heard of anything that powerful, much less seen it."

"It's gone now," Ross said in an absent tone that suggested his mind was elsewhere, "so it's not your problem anymore."

"Sir," Blonsky said, "If this Banner guy has any idea where that thing might be, I want to find him and force him to tell—"

"That 'thing' **was** Banner," Ross interrupted, looking at Blonsky as if he were a simple-minded child. "That's right, you heard me: it was Banner. And Banner is that thing."

"Sir?" Blonsky said, dumbfounded. "You're going to have to explain that a bit more clearly for me."

"No, I don't, soldier," Ross said in a tired, dismissive tone. "You did well, considering what you were up against. There certainly hasn't been anyone else who's managed to do any better. Pack up your gear and get what's left of our team back on the plane so we can go home."

"Sir!" Blonsky implored. "Wait, please, sir!" But the general was already walking away, his attention on something else entirely and apparently completely unconcerned with how badly the mission had gone or the casualties they had incurred. It was clear to Blonsky that Ross had known all along much more than he had been willing to tell them. It was equally clear that Banner had always been a much bigger threat than they had been told, which meant that they had been sent in practically blind.

No, Blonsky definitely didn't like General Ross much right now.

* * *

 **Malibu, California. May 29, 2009, Evening.**

Iris stood in the darkened corner, watching Tony Stark brood while she also stayed keenly aware of everything going on around them. She wasn't happy with her performance at the racetrack — in more than one instance, she had been nearly injured or killed because she hadn't noticed danger until it almost hit her. She wasn't sure why, though the fact that at the time she had just survived a H.A.R.D. landing was a leading candidate.

Unfortunately, the fact that her target had been throwing around megawatts of arc reactor power was another. _If the energy from an arc reactor can counter magic, maybe it can also interfere with my magically-enhanced senses, mental processing, and physical abilities_ , she thought. _I really,_ _ **really**_ _don't like that idea, but I need some way of finding out without everyone else also instantly finding out. I'd ask Hermione, but she's already consumed with trying to help Tony._

Tony abruptly let out a deep sigh and leaned forward, putting his head in his hands. Iris stepped out of the shadows, prepared to act just in case something was wrong, causing Tony to jump slightly in his seat. "Iris!" he said in surprise as he leapt out of his seat. "I had no idea you were there. Wait, you were there? How long have you been there, anyway?"

"Long enough," Iris answered cryptically.

"Oh, come on," Tony protested. "Can't I even get dressed by myself?"

"You tell me," Iris replied. "The last time I let you go to the bathroom by yourself, you decided to jump into an auto race, you nearly got yourself, Pepper, Hermione, and me killed, and you helped ruin the Monaco Grand Prix."

"That wasn't all my fault," Tony objected indignantly. "You can't pin all of that on me."

"Maybe not," Iris allowed, "but jumping into the race was definitely all you, and that's what started things."

"OK," Tony conceded, "you've got me there. But that doesn't mean you can't... wait a minute, does this mean you don't actually let me go to the bathroom by myself anymore?"

Iris simply raised one eyebrow in response.

"You must, because I haven't seen you," Tony said confidently.

Iris cocked her head to one side.

"Oh, right, magic." Tony said. "You can turn yourself invisible, can't you."

Iris nodded slowly.

"So... you...?" Tony said hesitantly.

"Maybe, maybe not," Iris responded cagily before she walked up and straightened his tie. "So long as you don't go getting into trouble like that again, you won't have to find out one way or the other."

"And what would your girlfriend say about that?" Tony asked with a smirk.

Iris pulled his tie extra tight before answering, "Hermione would ask if I'm getting hazard pay. And she's not my girlfriend."

Tony adjusted his tie in an attempt to breathe again before sitting back down. "Yeah, well, it'll happen sooner or later."

Iris sighed and said, "I hope so, but it will probably take a while. I need to be patient."

"Unfortunately," Tony said with regret, "we can't always afford to be patient."

Iris looked at him questioningly, hoping that this might lead to a useful conversation. He looked at her thoughtfully for a few moments, as if evaluating her, then he seemed to come to a decision and said, "I literally walked to my death and surrendered my life, all for her sake."

"What?" Iris asked, stiffening slightly.

"It's what you said to Stane a few months ago," Tony answered. "You remember, just before you beat the snot out of him? You said, and I quote, 'I have battled and killed monsters for her. I have walked through fire for her. I have fought hordes of demons for her. In her name I have flown against dragons. I literally walked to my death and surrendered my life, all for her sake.' At the time I thought it was nonsense. Even after I found out about magic, I thought it was mostly nonsense."

"And now?" Iris asked, surprised that he'd remembered all of that. She could see where this might be going, but she didn't want to let on that she knew more.

Sighing, Tony said, "Now I think I understand you a whole lot better, and in a way that I couldn't have before, even if I had believed what you said."

"Oh?"

"I'm dying, Iris," Tony said, tapping his chest piece. "The palladium I use for the core in my arc reactor is poisoning me."

Iris' eyes widened in feigned surprise. "What are you doing about it?"

"I've tried everything I can think of," he replied. "Every element I've explored as an alternative core proven to be too weak or too unstable."

"Have you asked any outside experts? S.H.I.E.L.D. has quite a few, and they know how to be discrete."

Tony waved his hand dismissively and said, "No one knows this technology better than I do."

"What about magic?" Iris asked, not wanting to press the point too hard.

"Hermione has been putting in a tremendous effort trying to help. It's why she's practically living here at my house now, so she can spend more time on the project and monitor me more closely. It's also why I brought up your words to Stane."

"What do you mean?" Iris asked.

"Hermione told me a bit about your history," he explained, "including what you did at that last battle at your old school when you walked into the forest intending to die."

Iris didn't have to fake her reaction to that. It was still a memory that made her uncomfortable.

"I promised not to go spreading the story, so don't worry about that. She told me because she knew that I've been having trouble dealing with what I'm facing, and she thought that talking to you might help, since you faced death yourself. And more than once."

Iris nodded. "No one who hasn't been through that sort of thing can understand what it's like."

"I'd be more than happy not to be included in that little club," Tony said a bit morosely. After a few moments, he continued, "If you were about to have your last birthday, what would you do?"

Iris perched on the arm of his chair and replied, "My last birthday? For certain?"

Tony looked up at her and nodded, seemingly surprised that she was taking his question seriously.

Iris looked thoughtful for a long moment, then said, "I'd grab whoever I loved the most, whoever was the most important person or people in my life, and I'd do something fun. Whatever I or we wanted to do — just to have the experience together. Because that's what life is: a series of experiences. Once life is over, so are the experiences, so you'd better get them while you can — and get them with the right people, too, because most things aren't nearly as much fun alone."

Tony looked away for a moment, then smiled and looked back at her. "I like that. Thanks."

Iris smiled back. "Any time." She made a mental note to contact Nick Fury ASAP because she was certain that Tony's mental state was deteriorating faster than expected, and she was worried that it might lead him to try something stupid. Again.

Tony got up to leave the room, but before he did he turned around and asked, "Have you ever told her?"

"Huh?" Iris asked.

"Have you ever told Hermione? That you did all of those things for her?"

Iris shook her head.

"I didn't think so. Why not?"

"I'm not comfortable talking about that sort of thing," Iris said, frowning slightly . "And I'm not sure how she would react."

"What was the last thing you thought about? In the forest, what was the last thing that went through your mind before you died?"

"Hermione," Iris said in a barely audible whisper.

Tony nodded as if he'd expected exactly that answer. "Then you should definitely tell her," he said. "She deserves to know that."

Without waiting for a response, Tony left to get his birthday party started.

* * *

"Sometimes, I hate it when I'm right," Iris muttered. She probably would have offered different advice to Tony — like maybe "take up knitting" or "learn how to juggle" — had she known that his idea of "fun" was to put on the Iron Man suit, get sloshed, and invite a hundred of the "most important people" in his life for a drunken bacchanalia. Shaking her head, she looked at her watch again and wondered where her backup was.

On the other side of the room, Tony was trying to be the DJ, too drunk to realize that the gloves of his suit were way too bulky and heavy for that kind of work. It didn't take him long to find out, though he didn't seem to care, either, judging by his laughter.

It was then that she thought she could sense Hermione's presence. It was a strange feeling, one that she couldn't describe, but she definitely felt that Hermione was nearby now. Turning around, she saw Hermione approaching with Pepper Potts and Colonel James Rhodes in tow.

Looking back at Hermione while giving the other two a chance to take in the sights before them, Iris mouthed _You look good_ and smiled.

"What the..." Pepper said, not believing what she was seeing.

"You have got to be kidding me," Rhodey said, the disgust and disappointment coming through clearly in his voice.

"How long?" Pepper asked.

Iris looked at her watch again and responded, "About two hours or so. Where were you all?"

Pepper shook her head in disbelief and said, "Back when we thought this was going to be a more normal party, Hermione and I decided to make a stop to get our hair done before picking up Rhodey."

"I'm sorry to say that I think it will be lost on this crowd," Iris observed.

"Why didn't you stop him?" Rhodey asked Iris with a slightly accusing tone in his voice. He had been briefed with the same cover story she had given Tony and Pepper, but not with the extent of her true mission.

"Because protecting Tony from being foolish isn't part of my job," she said. "Either job," she added with emphasis.

Rhodey backed down slightly, but quickly straightened up again and declared, "This can't continue. He has to be stopped."

Pepper quickly put a hand on his chest and said, "Let me. I can stop him, I promise."

While Pepper stalked towards Tony, Hermione pulled Iris to the side where they could get a little privacy. "Look at Rhodey," Iris said, distracting Hermione from whatever she was about to say. "His body language says he doesn't believe Pepper will be able to do anything. I agree with him."

Hermione looked up at the stage where Pepper was trying to cajole Tony into ending the party. "You're probably right, but you don't sound disappointed."

Sighing, Iris shrugged and said, "He is making a fool of himself, but I also think he needs this. Well, he needs some way of letting off steam. He's getting depressed. His mental state is deteriorating."

Hermione immediately understood what she was talking about and felt guilty since she was the one Tony had brought in to help him find a cure.

"It's time for the after party!" they heard Tony shout gleefully from the front of the room.

"Then again," Iris said, "maybe his mental state is improving?"

"It's called self-medication," Hermione said as she rolled her eyes, "and it's not healthy."

Iris shrugged. "I've seen worse ways of letting off some steam. He opened up to me, at least."

"He did?" Hermione asked, her mood lightening. "Good! I'm so glad." After a moment, she added, "But now what?"

"Unfortunately, he didn't accept the hint about asking S.H.I.E.L.D. for help."

Hermione bit her lip in thought; Iris pulled her back out of the way so she wouldn't get run over as Rhodey charged past wearing one of Tony's armored suits.

"Well, he knows that you know now, so maybe I can push the idea?" Hermione suggested. "We still have time..." she trailed off when Iris shook her head.

"I had to contact Fury earlier to let him know about Tony's state of mind," Iris said. "He told me that one of our labs is close to a possible treatment. It's not a cure, but it will treat the symptoms if the tests work out. Fury hopes to have it out here in the next day or so. I'll make sure you get a sample so you have a chance to perform tests on it. Maybe it can be magically enhanced to work longer."

Hermione's face warred between happy and upset expressions. "That's great," she said, "but your cover will be blown, won't it?"

"Yes it will," Iris said as she nodded, "but I always expected that to happen sooner or later."

A beeping distracted Iris, who pulled out her cell phone and read the message that had been sent to her. "Is there a problem?" Hermione asked.

"No, it's a notification about an incident that might be related to a scientist we're tracking named Banner. Nothing for you to worry about."

Hermione frowned slightly because she knew more about the subject than Iris realized, but now there was more information to be had and it was being kept from her.

Neither witch paid much attention as the rest of the guests ran screaming from the room. Iris lazily cast a _Protego_ shield between them and the fight on the other side of the room. She did it in the nick of time, too, as debris came flying their way.

"Should we do anything about them?" Hermione asked after a minute, sounding a little worried.

"Nah. They're boys, which means that they need to butt heads and fight every so often, otherwise their testosterone reaches dangerous levels and they blow up."

At that moment, the floor exploded upwards as Rhodey and Tony, still struggling with each other, came flying back into the room from the garage beneath them.

Hermione looked at her disbelievingly, but Iris continued, "It's true! It's a congenital defect!"

By this point the entire house seemed to have been cleared out except for the two combatants, and even that didn't last long because Rhodey left in short order. Tony looked up from the floor as Hermione and Iris walked over and stood there, gazing down at him in disappointment.

"It wasn't my best birthday party ever," Tony conceded, "But it sure was memorable."

Hermione shook her head in exasperation while Iris snorted and asked, "Whatever happened to grabbing the person you cared most for and doing something fun?"

Tony laughed a little ruefully. "I was going to do that, but I think that I got the steps backwards." After looking around a bit, he said, "Speaking of which, where is Pepper?"

Iris and Hermione shot each other a knowing look before Iris said, "I think she fled once you and Rhodey decided to start doing major remodeling."

Tony winced, evidently knowing that he was going to be paying for this, and in more ways than one.

Iris looked down at him thoughtfully for a moment, then said, "When are you going to tell her?"

"Her? Which her? What?" Tony asked with a panicked look on his face.

"Pepper. When are you going to tell Pepper about your condition?"

"Oh, that," Tony said, sounding relieved. "I... well... I haven't wanted to."

"Why not?" Hermione asked.

Tony looked back and forth between the two witches, then looked pointedly at Iris before saying, "I'm not comfortable talking about it. And I'm afraid of how she'd react." Iris nodded knowingly, while Hermione got the impression that there was some sort of subtext going on that she was missing.

"You should still tell her anyway," Iris recommended. "I think she deserves to know. And it might help you." Tony nodded slightly, apparently willing to at least consider the advice.

Deciding to change the subject, Hermione said, "Tony, why don't we contact S.H.I.E.L.D. to see if they have any ideas?"

Tony didn't respond for a long minute, but finally he asked, "Do you think they can do anything?"

"Maybe, maybe not," Iris admitted, "But it doesn't hurt to ask. You may be the world's leading expert on this technology, but that doesn't mean that no one else in the world has been investigating it — our people may have some ideas, at least."

Tony nodded, accepting that argument. "If they'll agree to keep my condition a secret, I guess it's worth asking. I've got nowhere to go but up, right?"

"No, some people find a way to dig themselves even deeper into a hole," Hermione admitted sadly. "Especially if they try to do everything themselves. But it's hard to go wrong if you accept help from your friends." She turned and gave Iris a meaningful look, causing the green-eyed witch to blush slightly.

* * *

 **Unknown Location, USA. June 7, 2009.**

Emil Blonsky sat in the back of his favorite pub eating dinner, alone as usual. He'd made a few friends over the course of his career, but he moved around too much to keep in touch with them. Although others probably wouldn't be able to tell by looking at him, he was more excited than he had been in years. It had taken several days and required calling in numerous favors, but he'd finally wrangled another interview with General Ross. He might not like the man much, but he could tell that the General was connected to a lot of interesting events, and he thought it would pay to talk to him again, maybe cultivate him as an acquaintance.

He never expected that it would pay off so well and so soon.

The meeting had started out with him doing exactly the wrong thing, which was complaining again about superior officers sending men into situations without proper intelligence and support — exactly what Ross himself had done a few days earlier. Instead of taking offense, though, the general had looked at him with an indulgent smile and let him go on. Eventually, though, he reacted when Blonsky made it clear that he'd need a team prepped and ready to go if he intended to ever take on that monster again.

 _It was at that point that he finally began sharing_ , Blonsky remembered. _I never expected to get a lesson on the history of the Super Soldier program and how a weak little scientist got dosed with a combination of experimental serum and gamma radiation to create that... that... hulking monster._

Blonsky took another sip of beer as he considered for the umpteenth time how badly he and his team had fared against that thing. _It took us apart like we were nothing. Like we didn't matter. We weren't a real threat to it, we were at most a nuisance. A diversion. If it hadn't wanted to leave and to be left in peace, it would have killed each and every one of us._

He told the general that he'd love to be able to combine his current knowledge and skills with the body he had ten years ago. Apparently, the general thought he could deliver something better. _In a few days, I'll get a dose of a newer serum that will provide significant strength, speed, endurance, and healing benefits. I'll have a body far, far better than what I had ten years ago. I'll finally be able to fight in the way that I've always known that I was meant to._

 _After all these years_ , he thought, _I'll be able to rise to the top of my profession. Nothing will be holding me back — it'll be me alone at the top of the pile._


	7. Making Connections

**Recommendation:** Story recommendation for this chapter is "Last Second Savior" by plums. Harry does something stupidly heroic and gets transported to a galaxy far, far away. He arrives just in time to save the life of a blue-skinned, Twi'lek Jedi Knight, thus changing the course of history. I prefer to recommend finished stories, but this one is really good and I want to bring it to people's attention anyway. Although it hasn't been updated in a while, it hasn't been officially abandoned — perhaps some positive reviews will help plums start adding to it again.

* * *

 **Chapter 7 - Making Connections**

 **Tintagel, England. June 12, 2009.**

After casting cushioning charms on the rocks midway up the cliff below Tintagel castle, Hermione and Iris sat down to have a serious conversation about the effects that the arc reactor energy seemed to have on magic. For witches and wizards, this was dangerous and explosive knowledge that they wanted to keep quiet for as long as possible.

That's why they came here — it was the most secure place they had, aside perhaps from Hermione's hidden cottage, and Iris wanted to ward it before they used it for discussions like this. They had barely even whispered anything about having this conversation, they were so paranoid about others finding out about it.

"So," Iris started out, "I assume you saw what happened between Vanko's plasma whips and my sticking charm?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes — even with a weak sticking charm, a muggle shouldn't have been able to break it with brute force. And electricity shouldn't have affected it, either. It looked like there must be something about energy coming from the arc reactor that interferes with magic."

"I agree. When I got close to him, my hair was standing on end and I felt uncomfortable. I don't know what exactly the interaction between the two is, but I'd like to know, because it doesn't seem like it's good for us magic users."

Hermione sighed. "I'd love to work on it right now, but I'm too busy researching Tony's condition and trying to find a magical cure for it."

"I know, but put this at the top of your list for when you're finished with that project," Iris said. "If muggles have a way of countering or repelling magic, we need to know. If muggles have a way of driving off or harming magicals, we **really** need to know."

"You said it was affecting you, and now that I think of it, something was happening to me as well, though not to the same degree. Do you think that we might have been harmed by all the energy that those whips were pushing into the air?"

Iris shrugged. "I guess it's possible — I've felt a bit off since the fight, but I've been assuming that it was due to the H.A.R.D. landing. Though that raises the question of why it hasn't happened to you long before now, given how much exposure you've had to Tony's arc reactor."

"There's hardly any energy leakage from his chest piece," Hermione pointed out. "It's very, very efficient. There isn't even enough loss to create static cling around it." She paused for a moment to consider. "At any rate, I've been feeling odd lately, too, but I figured it was general stress and lack of sleep catching up to me."

"OK, that does leave the whips as possible problems, but I don't know what we'd be able to do about it. It worries me, though, because it's still affecting us, more than two weeks later."

"If the whips harmed us at all," Hermione said, "do you think you could heal it the same way you helped me before? Normally I'd check with a healer, but I'm not sure they'd know what to look for. I'm also not sure I'd want anyone else knowing about this yet."

"I suppose I can try. I don't see how it could hurt, at least."

"Fine," Hermione said. "Do I, uh, need to lie down? Or what?"

"I just need skin contact," Iris said. After a moment's thought, she added, "It would probably be most comfortable for you if you untuck your shirt and lean back into me while I'm behind you and we're sitting down. I can put my hands on your belly, and if you feel lightheaded for any reason, I'll keep you upright."

"Is that a risk?"

"I don't know," Iris admitted. "I've only ever done it to you and to myself. You were already unconscious, and with me it was always with serious injuries that came with lightheadedness as part of the package."

"Alright," Hermione said as she lifted her shirt a little and scooted over to sit right in front of Iris. "You know," she said as she leaned back and Iris embraced her, "if I were the suspicious type, I'd suspect that you picked this position for entirely different reasons."

"Hey," Iris responded with a grin, "I never claimed that there weren't any fringe benefits to the situation."

Hermione closed her eyes, waiting to experience whatever it was that Iris was going to do. At first she simply felt the warmth of Iris' hands, then her hands kept growing warmer and warmer — but never uncomfortably so. Then the warmth spread across her abdomen, creating comforting and relaxing sensations. Suddenly, she could feel a rapid pulsing of energy along what she was certain must have been her magical core.

Hermione's eye snapped open and she wanted to yell at Iris to stop, to move away, **anything** other than continuing like this; but she couldn't speak, and with the exception of her eyes, she couldn't move, either. As the foreign energy pulsed and crackled along her core, the warmth spreading across her body transformed into a tingling sensation, then into an incredibly pleasurable sensation — more pleasurable than anything Hermione had ever experienced in her life. She was tempted to call it sexual, except for the fact that it felt as if it was happening with every nerve in her body.

At the same time, it seemed as though her core itself was inflating or twisting. She couldn't identify what exactly it was except that it was incredibly uncomfortable — not exactly painful and not exactly pleasurable, but a bizarre combination of both that she desperately wanted to end.

Then, as suddenly as it started, warmth and tingling and pleasure all ceased. Hermione arched her back and sucked in a breath, then all went to black.

* * *

 **Littledean, Gloucestershire, England. June 12, 2009.**

Hermione came to consciousness slowly. At first, she was simply aware, but unsure of where she was or what had happened. Eventually she came to realize that she was in a bed, warm, and comfortable. _So far, so good_ , she thought. After a bit, memories started returning: arranging to talk to Iris about the weird things that had been happening. Apparating to Tintagel for some privacy. Talking. Iris' warm hands. Tingling sensations. Iris using her healing skills to see if...

 _Oh, Iris!_ Hermione thought as she shot upright in bed, then immediately regretted it as the blood left her head and she began to feel faint.

"Hey, now," she heard Iris talking to her in the darkened room, "don't do that." She felt Iris' hands and arms embrace her and gently ease her back down on the bed. "I'm glad to see you're awake, finally."

"How long?" she croaked out.

"About six hours. I was starting to get worried."

"Where?"

"Your place," she said. "I'm glad you keyed me in the last time we were here — I didn't want to take you back to Malibu and have to explain this."

Hermione put a hand over her eyes and massaged them, trying to force her brain to start firing on all cylinders so she could talk more coherently. She felt Iris sit on the edge of the bed and lean over her. "I'm so sorry, I don't know what I did wrong," she said. "It seemed to be going fine and it felt like it always did, so I don't know what happened."

Hermione opened her eyes again and looked into Iris'. "Well, can you describe what exactly it was that you did? I was assuming that you simply overpowered a basic healing spell — nothing fancy, since you never had healer training. But you didn't, did you." It wasn't a question.

"No, I just, well... willed my magic to heal you."

Hermione shook her head. "Are you sure, Iris? It felt different from any spell I've ever been hit with. Is it possible that what you did was will your magic **into** me?"

"Well," Iris said slowly, "how would that be different?"

"A spell is structured magic," Hermione explained. "It's magic drawn out from within us then given form, intent, and purpose by our will, our knowledge, and our emotions. It does one thing, and then any leftover energy dissipates back into the earth or air, returning to the ambient magic that is always around us. If you pushed your raw, unstructured, unpurposed magic directly into my body... I'm not sure what would happen."

Iris still looked confused. "Do you think it's a bad thing?"

"I don't know, honestly. Do you have any idea what you were thinking when you healed me the first time? What thoughts or words were running through your head?"

Iris concentrated for a moment before responding, "I can't say with absolute certainty, but I'm pretty sure that my mind kept shifting between worry about you, my feelings for you, and my desire that you be healthy and strong enough that I could leave you to find Stane."

"And this second time?"

"Pretty similar. I was more focused on... well, my strong feelings for you, I guess. Holding you like that probably didn't help, and in that sense I suppose it was less structured. But I was also thinking about wanting you to be strong and healthy."

Hermione nodded slightly. "Well, I'm sure that helped, at any rate. It means that the magic you used on me wasn't completely unstructured, I suspect."

"How are you feeling?"

"Actually," Hermione said, stretching, "I feel remarkably good. Well, except for feeling light headed there for a moment. In fact, I can't remember feeling this good before." She stretched again and twisted her body, gauging how it felt to use her limbs. "Or this strong, in fact. I've definitely lost that odd feeling that I had earlier." She paused for a moment, then frowned slightly and said, "Maybe it worked like a strong Pepperup potion, but for my magic?"

"Maybe," Iris said, "but you're venturing well outside my knowledge of magic. Theory has never been my strong suit."

"How are **you** feeling?" Hermione asked.

"I..." Iris started to answer, then hesitated as a look of concentration crossed her face. "Now that you ask, I'm feeling a bit better. I hadn't been thinking about it because I was so worried about you, but the oddness isn't quite as strong."

Hermione looked thoughtful. "You didn't do to yourself what you did to me, right?" When Iris shook her head, Hermione went on, "Then perhaps it was just using magic like that? Using it in its raw form rather than in a focused, structured manner?"

"That seems like a bit of a stretch, but I haven't used a lot of serious magic in the past couple of weeks while I've been healing up, so it may not be a coincidence. I can try using a bit more magic to see if it helps. Nothing big, since I'd still prefer to avoid that, but maybe for more casual things that I usually do the muggle way."

Hermione nodded. "It probably won't hurt. We won't know more until I can do some serious research on it. Until then, we'll keep all of this to ourselves. Once I know more, or at least understand something about how arc reactor energy and magic interact, then we can start telling people, I guess."

Iris agreed. This wasn't something she wanted generally known, at least for the time being.

* * *

 **Private Airport, France. June 15, 2009.**

Ivan Vanko looked with contempt at the spineless man sitting across from him at the table. _How does a man such as this acquire so much power and wealth?_ he wondered, then smiled to give the impression that he was happy. Nothing could have been further from the truth, however. Granted, this Justin Hammer had broken him out of prison, and it looked like he would provide another opportunity to get back at Tony Stark, but that didn't mean Vanko was happy. This ignorant, ineffectual man would place demands on him and attempt to control him, getting in the way of his vengeance. That would be... annoying.

"You can't just try to kill a man like Tony Stark," Hammer was saying, "You have to go after his legacy."

Even more annoying would be the fact that he couldn't kill the twit whenever his voice got to be too grating, which would have been about two minutes into their current meeting. He had known men like this back home — _Novye Russkie_. New Russians. Men who made their wealth by being criminals, then pretending to be honest, decent folk. _Just like Stark,_ he thought. After regarding Hammer for a moment, he amended himself, _No, not quite._ _Even Stark isn't quite as nekulturny as this Hammer person._

"You know, the two of us are a lot alike. The only difference between us is that I have resources," he said, "and you need my resources."

He smiled again, putting the twit at ease. _Did he think he could overawe me with this lavish dining service? It's insulting to think that this would sway me. I'd have been more impressed with an honest, simple meal — some bread, cheese and vodka, and maybe I'd have tried to be his friend._ He chewed on the stringy fowl before swallowing the bite whole. _Of course, someone who'd think to offer me such a meal might be worthy of friendship._

"I want my bird," Vanko finally informed Hammer.

"What?"

"My bird," Vanko repeated. "I want it." He didn't expect Hammer to get his bird. He would have liked to have his bird back, of course, but he didn't expect it to happen. He wanted to see how desperate Hammer was and what kind of man he was. A desperate man would make the attempt. An honest man would admit to being unable to fulfill the request, even if it made him look a bit less powerful. A lying, cheating man would try to give him some other bird and tell him it was the same one.

"Is this a bird that's back in Russia?" Hammer asked haplessly.

Ivan Vanko knew which option Hammer would likely end up choosing. He smiled again, this time genuinely. _He may be a liar and a cheat, but he's also stupid, which means I'll be able to do what I want once I get my hands on his technology. Tony Stark will never know what hit him._

* * *

 **S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, Location Unknown. June 18, 2009.**

Nick Fury looked at the reports in front of him, hoping that they didn't all add up to what he'd thought they did on his initial read-through. First, there had been an incident in Milwaukee that looked suspiciously like a case of gamma-ray poisoning. Initial eyewitness statements pointed to something that sounded a lot like a sighting of Banner's alter ego, but somehow they all changed their minds within a day, and there were signs of Department of Defense involvement. _You DoD boys don't have enough experience in this field to conceal your involvement_ , Fury thought, _at least not from me._

Second, something happened down in Rio, but what, exactly, no one could tell — the statements from witnesses were all over the place. The only things they agreed on were the presence of black-clad gringos speaking English and shooting what appeared to be tiny syringes. Another gringo who had a favored position in the local soft drink bottling plant mysteriously disappeared the same night. _Was that you, Banner?_ Fury wondered. _Last place we had you was Mexico. What sent you farther south? And where are you headed now?_

Third, General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross disappeared for a couple of days. Fury had been forced to dig around to get that information because Ross had hidden his absence well, and he probably never would have learned about it at all had the first two reports not crossed his desk. It was Ross that tied them together, though. Ross, the man so obsessed with capturing Bruce Banner that he repeatedly put his career at risk in order to run black ops missions anywhere in the world that a sighting for the Hulk came from.

There was a fourth report about several members of SOCOM suffering from severe physical injuries without an obvious cause, but Fury put that aside for someone else to follow up on so he could focus on Ross. _I could send another warning to Ross_ , Fury considered, _but that would make him even more paranoid and secretive. Or I could put some extra watchers on him to see what he's up to. Maybe I need to take another look into the rumor that he reactivated a decommissioned army base in the southwest for his little side projects, too._

After a couple of minutes he made his decision, signed off on the relevant orders, and turned to his other major headaches: Tony Stark, Iris Potter, and Hermione Granger. _Some days_ , he lamented, _I wonder whether the Avengers Initiative is going to be worth it in the end._ There still wasn't any new intel on Ivan Vanko. All of his public records had been easy to access, and Fury had some more information on his father's past that he needed to pass along to Stark.

How Vanko had managed to get his equipment to Monaco and through the security net, though, was still a mystery and that troubled him. _At least we won't have to worry about him bothering us again, since he died in that prison explosion._

* * *

 **Malibu, California. June 23, 2009.**

Hermione and Iris sat eating breakfast together in Tony Stark's kitchen. Hermione had been basically living in Stark's home ever since her research into finding a magical cure for Tony's palladium poisoning had taken over her life. Iris had joined her as a house guest once Stark had revealed his condition and S.H.I.E.L.D. had come through with a partial treatment for his symptoms. While the S.H.I.E.L.D. serum was holding off the worst of the ill effects, Hermione still hadn't given up hope that she'd find a complete cure.

Fury wanted her there to keep an eye on Stark, who wanted her around so he could keep an eye on her. Iris was happy to eliminate the daily commute and have more time to spend with Hermione, even if she was working all the time. One thing that continued to intrigue Iris was how she would occasionally get a feeling that Hermione was approaching or nearby. Ever since she first noticed it at Tony's birthday party almost a month ago, she'd been paying attention to see if it happened again — and it did. Not all the time and not too often, but often enough that she was sure it wasn't random coincidence.

She wasn't ready to mention it to Hermione yet because she wanted to try to learn more about it on her own, but she knew she'd have to bring it up sooner or later.

"This Expo of yours is a gigantic waste of time and money," they heard Pepper complain in the other room.

"Right now, there's nothing of greater importance to me than my Expo," came Tony's reply. "It is, in fact, my primary point of concern." Tony came walking into the kitchen and, without acknowledging them, headed out to the living room and downstairs into his lab. Pepper came right behind, but chose not to follow him into his lab. She looked over at the two witches, and they could see how exasperated she was.

Iris raised one eyebrow in a questioning manner, and Pepper declared, "I don't know what to do about him sometimes. The Expo is pointless, but he spends all of his time on that instead of answering all the criticism that's coming in about him and the company. His image took a real beating after Monaco, but he hasn't responded in the media."

"Maybe the Expo is about his image?" Iris suggested.

Pepper blinked a couple of times before saying, "Maybe I can use that... I need to get to the office. Thanks! Bye!" And with that, she was gone.

"Don't get too involved in their drama," Hermione recommended. "If you let yourself get sucked in, you'll never be able to pull yourself back out."

"Is that the voice of experience, O Wise One?" Iris asked with a quirk of her lips.

"Absolutely," Hermione said as she flipped to another piece of parchment in whatever she was reading. "I learned after about a week of living here not to delve too deeply into what's going on between them. Pepper has a standing offer from me to talk if she ever wants to, but she has to initiate. I won't insert myself, not anymore."

Iris smiled, wondering if she should ask about what happened, before taking another sip of tea. "What have you been reading there?"

"It's a letter from Ginny," Hermione answered. "I've been getting a lot more letters from different people lately, and they're mostly filled with disturbing news."

"How so?" Iris asked.

"Well," Hermione said slowly, trying to organize her thoughts. "Take this letter, for instance. In it Ginny gives her usual update on the Weasley family, but there are lots of little hints of problems. George, for example, is spending a lot of time away from home; Ginny thinks he's going to the cemetery to sit by Fred's grave. Percy is putting in a lot of overtime at the Ministry, dealing with missing persons reports and other social unrest. Ron is spending a lot of time with the new WWW shop in Hogsmeade, and Ginny says he always comes home worried. That much I already knew — reading between the lines of his last letter, I could tell that he was seeing more and more people who were afraid, and that was starting to make him afraid, though he didn't come right out and say it."

"So, there's growing fear across magical Britain?" Iris said with a frown.

Hermione nodded. "Yes, that's it exactly. There are some reasons for it, like the missing people, but a lot of it seems to be unfocused. People seem to know that _something_ is wrong, but they can't say what, exactly. And it appears to be getting worse."

"Can you ask them for more details? Specifics?"

"I've asked Hannah Longbottom because she's close to Susan Bones, but that's it. The others don't seem able to pinpoint what's going on."

Iris nodded, knowing that it was hard for many wizards and witches to reason their way through logical problems. "Try to keep me informed, please. I'd like to keep abreast of what's going on. If there are problems, I might be able to do something. If there are big problems. S.H.I.E.L.D. may want to get involved." Iris sighed deeply before adding, "Not that I'm particularly eager to save magical Britain. Again. I didn't want to be their hero or savior the first time, and I'm sure I'll want it even less now." Hermione could tell that it still rankled that Iris had never had a chance at a normal life.

"I doubt that many wizards or witches would appreciate it if muggles stuck their noses in magical business," Hermione observed.

"True," Iris agreed, "but that's one reason why S.H.I.E.L.D. has me. I'm still magical, even if I've been absent for a while. Though I'm sure they'd be happy having more than one magical in their ranks..."

She gave Hermione a pointed look until the other witch huffed and said, "I told you, I haven't made a decision yet. And even if I had, I wouldn't change jobs until Tony is cured." Iris smiled to herself, thinking that she was making progress.

"Why should I have to be the one to quit and change jobs, though?"

"What?" Iris exclaimed, completely off-balance.

"Why should **I** be the one to change?" Hermione asked again. "If working together would be so great, why don't **you** quit S.H.I.E.L.D. and come work for Stark Industries?" Iris sat there, doing an impressive imitation of a fish, so Hermione continued, "It's obviously less dangerous, and I wouldn't have to worry about you so much. There's less travel, less stress, and I'll bet Tony would pay you more, too."

Iris couldn't take it anymore and finally responded, "But... but... listen, you know I can't do a job like yours. I'm no good with theory and research. I'm a doer, not a thinker."

"You've got that right," Hermione mumbled under her breath.

Iris frowned but kept going, pretending not to have heard that comment. "Tony doesn't have job openings for people like me."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked with an innocent-looking face. "You're doing a wonderful job as a personal secretary. Or personal assistant." Hermione waved her hand vaguely in the air, "You know, whatever."

"What?" Iris practically shouted. "That's a cover! It's not a real job!"

"But you do it so well," Hermione said sweetly.

"It's still not a real job! It's not my job!" Iris ranted. "It's not what I do!"

"And what is it that you do, again?" Hermione inquired.

"I'm an intelligence agent! I steal information! I kill bad guys! I... I... I blow shit up!"

Hermione frowned. "Hardly good things to put on a résumé."

"What?" Iris shouted again. "I don't do résumés, either!"

"Then why do you do all of those things?"

"Because it's necessary. It's not fun, but it's important work. I save people. I protect people."

"So, you're not a secretary, you're a hero?" Hermione asked with a smile.

"Yes!" Iris said, triumphantly. Then she quickly deflated and looked aghast at Hermione, remembering all the times at Hogwarts when she had lamented having to be the hero, wishing she could lead a simple, ordinary, uninteresting life. Wishing she could be "just Iris." Most of those times, Hermione had let her complain, but occasionally she pointed out that such deeds needed to be done by someone, and that she wouldn't trust anyone more than Iris to do them.

Iris realized she was living the life that Hermione had thought she could lead — that she had been living up to Hermione's expectations for her.

Iris was sorely tempted to be annoyed at Hermione for tricking her like that, but Hermione's warm smile overwhelmed that initial, instinctive reaction of hers. Instead of fighting it, she took Hermione's hand in her own and simply reveled in the contact.

* * *

 **Malibu, California. July 28, 2009.**

Iris saw Tony heading for the front door with car keys jingling in his hand so rushed to catch up with him. "Do you need me to accompany you?" she asked.

"Nah, Pepper left a message about having a bunch of my stuff — or my father's stuff — at the office that she wants picked up or she'll throw it all out. I don't know what's there, but I should look it over at least — and if I end up bringing much back, there won't be room in the car for you, too. It's a quick trip."

"You know she's still mad at you," Iris pointed out.

Tony winced. "I know, I got that impression from her message."

"I'm guessing you haven't told her yet?" Iris asked.

Tony stopped walking and tensed up a little before answering, "No, and frankly I've been trying to avoid thinking about it."

"She'll be annoyed that you kept it from her, but once she gets past that, she'll be happier knowing. She'll want to be there for you, supporting you."

Tony looked her square in the eyes for a moment, then asked, "And have _you_ told _her_ yet?"

Iris grimaced at having the conversation turned around on her like that. "No, I haven't."

Tony glanced back in the direction that Hermione likely was, then looked at Iris again. "How about I make you a deal: I'll tell if you tell."

Iris' brows rose nearly to her hairline. "Really? You'll tell Pepper about your condition, but only if I talk to Hermione about what I told Stane?"

"Yep," Tony said with a triumphant gleam in his eye.

Iris saw that and narrowed her eyes before saying, "OK, you've got a deal."

"See, that's... what?" Tony broke off, doing a double take. "You mean it?"

"Yes, of course. Shake on it?" she asked, holding out her hand.

Tony looked at the hand as if he expected it to bite him, then finally reached out and shook it. "But if I come back and find that you haven't told her," he said as he gripped her hand tightly, "I'll tell her myself."

Iris nodded, impressed that he'd thought of that condition. "Fine — and the same goes for you if you fail to tell Pepper."

"Fine," Tony said, releasing her hand and making ready to leave.

"You know, you might improve your chances of survival by bringing a peace offering to her."

"Oh?" Tony asked as he stopped and turned back around. "Any suggestions?"

Iris thought for a moment. "Something bright and colorful? I think she likes red."

Tony smiled. "Thanks, that's a great suggestion. See you later!"

Once he was gone, Iris slumped against the wall and groaned. She hadn't been prepared to have that conversation with Hermione any time soon, and certainly not today.

* * *

 **Los Angeles, California, July 28, 2009.**

Tony strode into Pepper's office without knocking because... well, it simply never occurred to him. And it used to be his office anyway.

"Yes, but the company's fundamentals remain strong, despite what happened with Tony in Monaco," Pepper was saying on the phone while shooting him a dirty look. Tony had the grace to look a little embarrassed as he sat across from her.

"No, that won't matter," she continued. "It's our position that our trademark property was taken in an illegal seizure. Mr. Stark continues to hold proprietary ownership of the Mark II platform, regardless of where the suit currently is. No, it belongs to us."

"OK, we'll discuss that at the meeting," Pepper continued. "I'll talk to you then. Bye." She set down the phone and looked pointedly at him. "Yes?" she asked. "Are you here for your father's things?"

"Mostly," Tony said, floundering because the conversation was already going badly before he'd even had a chance to speak. Suddenly remembering Iris' suggestion of a peace offering, he reached into his bag and pulled out the large carton of strawberries he'd purchased from a roadside vendor. _Bright, colorful, and red. Also, delicious!_ he thought as he set it on the desk in front of Pepper. _The perfect peace offering. Thank you, Iris!_

Pepper looked at the strawberries as if they were something that had crawled up on her desk and died. Messily.

"Really, Tony?" she drawled. When she saw how confused he looked, she continued, "You bought me the one thing in the entire world that I'm allergic to? **Violently** allergic to?"

"Oh." Tony said, surprise clear on his face. "I knew that there was something, some sort of connection between you and strawberries. I just, uh, forgot what it was exactly." He quickly grabbed the offending carton and tossed it into the nearby trashcan. _Damn you, Iris!_

Pepper shook her head in exasperation. "I don't have time for your games, Tony. You've been withdrawn, moody, behaving oddly...and for months, now. I can't handle it — I now have a company to run. Your company, as a matter of fact, and it takes a lot of time and effort to do it, especially when I have to clean up your messes as well."

Tony watched her gather up some things from her desk as she prepared to leave. _If she's that busy, then dumping my problems on her might make it all worse_ , he thought. _Then again, it's not like either of us will be finding more time in the day any time soon. And if I don't do it now, Iris is bound to._

"I don't suppose you have time for lunch?" he asked hopefully, wondering if a change in setting would make this easier.

"No, Tony, I don't," Pepper said, barely paying attention to him now. "I've got far too much to do here and can't take off whenever I feel like it." She was moving to the door now, and Tony suddenly knew with crystal-clear certainty that if he didn't say something now, he'd not only lose his chance to say something, but he'd lose Pepper entirely. After all that he'd said and done — and all that he **hadn't** said and done — she was simply walking out, and in more ways than one.

"I'm dying," he blurted out as she put her hand on the door. When he noticed that she had frozen in place, he added, "I'm sorry about how blunt that was, but in my defense I did try to take you out to lunch so I could tell you this in a better context."

"What?" she asked, a horrified expression on her face as she turned back around.

"I said it's your fault that I had to be so blunt because you wouldn't go out to lunch with me," he answered.

"No, Tony, the first part," Pepper said, shaking her head. "Is this some sick, twisted game you're trying to play?"

"No!" Tony said, embarrassed that she would think such a thing. "It's the arc reactor. The palladium I have to use as a core is poisoning me. I finally got a treatment for the symptoms, but that's only delaying things. Well, it's the second treatment I've gotten. The first helped for a while, then stopped. Now I'm trying something else."

Pepper started walking slowly over to Tony, dropping the things she'd picked up from her desk. "And what are you doing about this?"

"I've been trying to find an alternate core for months," Tony explained as he tiredly rubbed his face, "and Hermione has been looking for magical solutions since before she moved into my house. Unfortunately, neither of us has had any luck. Even the treatment I'm trying now came from S.H.I.E.L.D."

Pepper dropped into the chair next to Tony's and said, "Months? You've known about this for **months**? And when were you planning on telling me?"

Tony winced slightly and looked down at his feet before answering, "At first, I thought that if I could solve the problem, there'd be no need. Why get you worried about something that was quickly and easily fixed? As time went by, and every attempt to find a solution failed, I grew more and more depressed. I... I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want you feeling as bad as I did."

Looking back up at her, he continued, "You always seemed to be in such a good mood, and... well, I didn't want to ruin that. I didn't want to make your life harder. I guess I saw this as my burden to bear."

Pepper leapt forward and hugged him while sobbing into his shoulder, unable to find words to express either how angry she was at his pigheaded reticence or how upset she was over his condition. She pounded his shoulder a few times instead. Tony embraced her awkwardly, suddenly remembering that not wanting to deal with a crying woman was another reason why he hadn't said anything sooner and thanking his lucky stars that he didn't say that out loud.


	8. Break Out

**Recommendation** : Story recommendation for this chapter is "Wand and Shield" by Morta's Priest. This HP/Marvel crossover isn't complete, but the author is actively updating it. Harry, who's had enough of the wizarding world, ends up in the Marvel world. OK, that might not sound like an exciting summary, but too much happens in the story to be easily summarized. If you enjoy this story at all, you'll probably enjoy that one as well.

* * *

 **Chapter 8 - Break Out**

 **Malibu, California. July 28, 2009.**

Iris walked into Tony's tiny library. At least, it used to be tiny, but Hermione had considered the woefully inadequate room to be almost a personal affront. Despite merely being a houseguest, she had expanded it via magical means, so it now included a wide range of both muggle and magical books. Tony still hadn't noticed, as far as the two witches could tell, but Hermione didn't much care so long as it suited her research needs.

It gave Jarvis fits, though, because nothing on his sensors was consistent or comprehensible now when it came to the library. Apparently Jarvis could simultaneously "see" both the original size and the expanded size, creating a contradiction in facts that his programming couldn't resolve. In the end, he simply shut down one set of sensors to eliminate the contradictions in incoming data and pretended that the library didn't exist at all.

As she had expected, Hermione was concentrating on yet another potions book that she hoped might provide a key to helping Tony. The sight of Hermione Granger poring over a musty old book was something that had become deeply etched in Iris' psyche, and she found it comforting somehow.

Hermione, of course, had no idea that she was being watched, so Iris could stand there for a while, reliving happier memories and trying to steel herself to dredge up some of the darkest hours of her life.

At least, Iris _thought_ that Hermione had no idea that she was being watched. Anyone else might have been oblivious, especially if they had the sort of focus on research that Hermione did; she, however, somehow knew Iris was there even before she'd entered the library. The moment she noticed the green-eyed witch, Hermione also knew that Iris had something she needed to talk about but was reluctant to bring up.

"Why don't you come sit down, Iris," she said without looking up. "When I'm finished with this part, you can tell me whatever it is that's bothering you so much."

A short time later, Hermione closed the book and set it aside, then turned to Iris. "I know you well enough to tell that whatever it is you have to say, you're not happy about it. Why don't you spit it out and get it over with."

"Right, then," Iris responded. "This goes back to when I took Stane down. Well, it goes back a lot further, but I said something to Stane that day which Tony heard, and he's argued that I should tell you as well."

Hermione's eyebrows rose at that — she hadn't expected anything involving Tony, much less Stane.

"You see, Stane challenged why I was there and interfering with him," Iris explained. "When I told him about you getting hurt, he claimed I was engaging in petty vengeance, and I explained to him — rather forcefully, as I recall — that there was nothing petty about my feelings. I believe my exact words were: 'I have battled and killed monsters for her. I have walked through fire for her. I have fought hordes of demons for her. In her name I have flown against dragons. I literally walked to my death and surrendered my life, all for her sake.' Neither he nor Tony took those words seriously. Well, you know what happened to him, and Tony has since reconsidered."

It was now Hermione's turn to do an impressive imitation of a fish. She had always known that Iris held her in high regard, even though it had been less than a year since she discovered that Iris had been in love with her — had possibly been in love with her for quite a few of their years at Hogwarts, in fact. It was also shortly after their reunion that she had learned that Iris had died at the final battle — voluntarily died and come back. However, despite Iris saying that she'd done it for her, she hadn't entirely believed that she'd done it for her _personally_ , as opposed to doing it for all the people like her who'd fought against Voldemort. She certainly hadn't realized that Iris had, in her mind, done all of those things and faced all of those dangers specifically for her sake.

This new revelation put Iris' feelings in an entirely new category... one that Hermione wasn't sure she deserved. Indeed, she wasn't sure it was something that _anyone_ could live up to.

"I... I..." she said, feeling at a complete loss for words. After what seemed like several hours, she collected herself and asked a question: "How long?"

"How long what?" Iris asked, confused.

"I know you love me, Iris, even though you haven't said the words," Hermione explained. "Your actions make it obvious." Iris blushed but didn't deny it. "So how long have you loved me?"

"That's... a hard question to answer. I didn't grow up in a home where I had a lot of models of loving relationships, and I certainly wasn't loved myself, so it was a long time before I felt I could understand what love is — especially any sort of romantic love. Through most of our time at Hogwarts, if anyone had asked me about my feelings for you, I wouldn't have been able to describe them as love. It's only looking back and thinking about my actions and feelings that I'm able to say anything."

Hermione nodded, not the least bit surprised.

"I certainly felt something first year, though it was probably only friendship because I didn't have romantic thoughts about anyone, boys or girls. However, I did want to live up to your expectations. I had never wanted anyone to be proud of me before you. ...Well, OK, I did with the Dursleys, once; but when I proudly showed off my good grades I was beaten for having cheated and done better than Dudley. So other than that, you were the first, and that meant a lot to a scrawny, scared, eleven-year-old kid."

Hermione reached out and took Iris' hand, knowing that this was difficult for her to talk about.

"I think my feelings started to coalesce in second year," Iris continued, "though again, I wasn't having romantic feelings about anyone, and I couldn't have described myself as preferring girls over boys. I was, however, outraged that you had been petrified, and even at the time it seemed that my reaction was a bit too strong if you were simply my friend. Looking back, I'd say it was definitely over the top; so while I may not have understood what romantic attraction was, I think I must have been feeling it... or at least something close."

"It was in third year that I think my feelings for you started to be conscious," Iris then said, "but only at the end. After all the adrenaline surrounding rescuing Sirius, feeling your arms wrapped around me as we rode Buckbeak was incredible. It was a whole new rush; and while at the time I didn't understand that rush, I knew I liked it and wanted more. Again, I don't think that at the time I could have called it a romantic or sexual attraction, but I knew it was physical, and I knew that I wanted more than friendship. I was not, however, confident enough to say anything, so I tried to be content with what you gave me."

Iris paused, then said, "Just out of curiosity, what would you have done if I had said anything?"

It was Hermione's turn to blush, and she hesitated a moment before saying, "Honestly, I might have been willing to try for something more than friendship at that point. I'm not sure it would have gone well because I knew nothing about relationships, what I might want from a romantic relationship, or what to do with another girl; but at the time I was definitely feeling something more. Like you, I wouldn't have been able to easily identify it, but I knew that it was more than simple friendship."

"You're right — as inexperienced as we were, we probably would have bollixed up any attempt at a romance," Iris agreed with a sad smile. "However, that doesn't mean I won't have dreams about how it might have been if I had said something."

Hermione mutely nodded, agreeing with the sentiment.

"After that, my feelings grew. Fourth year was important because of how much you helped me, and I even felt my first pangs of jealousy as I watched you dance with Krum."

"You were jealous?" Hermione asked, a little surprised.

"Very," Iris responded. "And what's more, I knew it. I didn't quite understand **why** I'd be jealous because I hadn't figured out that some girls like other girls instead of guys. It was all so foreign to me. Anyway, I don't think it was until we were alone in the tent during the Horcrux Hunt that I was able to finally identify my feelings for you as romantic and sexual. Boy, what a surprise that was when I first realized it and admitted it to myself! I alternated between being happy that so much about myself suddenly made sense and shocked that I not only liked girls, but you in particular. My best friend."

Iris sighed. "Unfortunately, you were already involved with Ron, and I wasn't about to intrude on that. It wasn't exactly the best time and place for a sexual awakening or to come out of the closet. Yet even if I had been a guy, I wouldn't have done anything — it would have seemed like too much of a betrayal of both of you."

Hermione nodded. "I understand — I'm not surprised that you'd feel that way. However, if you had made any move or sent any signal, I might have responded positively, even then. The stress and living situation would have made it hard to think about such things, but at the same time I think I would have welcomed any expression of love and affection — and would have returned it happily, especially since I'd long had suppressed feelings for you. I think I understood my feelings before you understood yours, but since I never saw any indication that you weren't straight, I kept my emotions bottled up."

"What a pair we are," Iris said as she gently stroked Hermione's hand. After a moment, she added, "So, that's your answer to your question."

"I never had any idea that your feelings were so strong or went so deep. And you did all of those things... because of **me**? I mean, me **personally**?"

Iris nodded. "I didn't risk my life to save an abstract ideal of 'Wizarding Britain,' nor did I do it to save a society that spent so much time ridiculing and attacking me. I had no roots in Britain, muggle or magical. The failure of muggle authorities to protect me from the Dursleys ensured that I had no loyalty to muggle society or government. Dumbledore keeping me isolated from wizarding society ensured that I never developed any attachment or loyalty there. I was indifferent to both, and under other circumstances, I would have been as willing to fight and die for them as I would for any country you might randomly pick off of a map."

"Which was not at all," Hermione surmised.

"Exactly. Avenging my parents played a role in what I did. Protecting my very, very few friends did as well. But none of that would ever have been enough for me to keep pushing past normal limits... to keep fighting against all odds. **None** of it was enough to walk out into the Forbidden Forest and let Riddle kill me without my lifting a hand in self-defense. You, however, were. You **always** were. I walked out there in the expectation that I was ensuring your survival and future, and that was enough. I didn't think that I had any chance at a future **with** you, so I was willing to do whatever it took to create a positive future **for** you."

Hermione started quietly crying, overwhelmed by the revelation. Iris, feeling no less affected, put her arm around her, and Hermione leaned into her for comfort. Thus they held each other for a time, both struggling to come to terms with memories — and feelings — they had long thought buried.

* * *

After that, Hermione was no longer in the mood to do research, so they headed to the kitchen for some ice cream — a tried-and-true method of coping in the aftermath of such heavy emotional upheaval.

Before they could dig in, though, JARVIS had a message for Hermione. "Miss Granger, there is a news report matching one of the parameters you told me to monitor for."

"Can you put it on the kitchen TV?" Hermione asked.

"I'm already routing the signal to your location," the computer AI responded. Immediately, the two witches were watching a live news report from Virginia where it appeared that a massive green monster was battling military troops.

"...that's right, Jim, we're still waiting on word about casualties, but we have heard from several people who claimed to be eyewitnesses to a massive explosion involving at least two military vehicles with multiple passengers as well as numerous soldiers who had been standing nearby."

In the background of the shot, the two witches could see what looked like the remains of several military vehicles, all burning.

"Thanks, Holly. For those of you just joining us, we're reporting on an unusual incident that is still going on in Willowdale, Virginia. Some sort of large, green beast has been locked in a fight with U.S. troops on the campus of Culver University. The exact nature and origin of this beast is completely unknown, but it seems to be impervious to bullets and explosions — everything that the military has fired at the thing has bounced off."

"Jim... Jim, are you seeing this?"

"We're switching to you now, Holly — can you describe what's going on?"

The picture suddenly changed from the anchor in the studio back to the reporter in the field. The camera was zoomed to its max, showing an unclear image of a large, green creature bent over in the middle of a field.

"I'm not sure, but it looks like a woman is trying to talk to the beast and... Oh, my God!"

"Are you alright, Holly?"

Iris and Hermione watched as a large fireball engulfed the green creature.

"I'm fine, Jim, but... a helicopter started firing on the two, then the beast threw something at the helicopter, bringing it down. The helicopter almost crashed into the creature and the woman, but the creature protected her, I think. Both were caught in the explosion, then the green creature walked away with her in its arms."

"Were there any casualties from the explosion, Holly?"

"I can't tell from this far away, Jim, but it's hard to see how anyone in that helicopter could have survived the crash. I'm surprised that more people on the ground weren't killed."

"Thanks, Holly. On the line we have General Stanley Lieber, retired, U.S. Army. General Lieber, thanks for joining us today. Can you tell us what you think has happened today at Culver University?

"Juvenile delinquents, obviously, Jim. Products of a permissive society, liberal education, and comic books. And LSD, too, probably. 'Nuff said."

Iris muted the volume, leaving the picture on in case something new happened.

"It's the Hulk!" Hermione whispered.

Iris' head whipped around to look at Hermione. "Where did you hear that name?" she asked.

"I, uh, well, I..." Hermione stammered. "Oh, sod it. I saw it on a file in Nick Fury's office when he talked to me a few months ago."

"Oh?" Iris asked, raising one questioning eyebrow. "Did you go and rifle through his desk or something?"

"No!" Hermione responded, scandalized. "I'd never do such a thing. He left me alone so he could take care of something, and while he was gone, someone else came in and left a file. I got curious and... well, I kind of looked at it."

"Which is oh-so-much better," Iris observed dryly as she started to dish out some chocolate ice cream.

Ignoring Iris' comment, Hermione continued, "It was fascinating. There was stuff in there that I thought might let me help you — you know, questions involving control."

"Really?" Iris drawled. "Nick Fury _accidentally_ left you alone in his office with a classified file — a file which _coincidentally_ might have implications for me?"

Rolling her eyes dramatically, Hermione said, "Oh, please, Iris. I knew it was a setup. The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent they had drop off the file wasn't exactly the best actor. I'll admit that I didn't see the setup immediately — I was too curious about the file to think carefully about what was going on. Later, though, when thinking about the whole incident, I realized what must have happened."

"Well, that's something at least. You had me worried there for a minute. The Hermione Granger I grew up with wouldn't have been quite so easily fooled."

"Do you think Fury will be upset that I saw through his ruse?"

"Pfft. He may be a little disappointed if his hard work goes to waste, but if anything he'll be more impressed with you. If he does want you to head up W.A.N.D., he'll be happier that you can see through plots and lies."

"He'll have to try harder if he wants to trick me into joining S.H.I.E.L.D.," Hermione muttered.

"Trick you?" Iris responded as she set two bowls of ice cream on the table. "He wasn't trying to trick you, Hermione. He was trying to tempt you."

"You don't think that's the same thing?" Hermione asked, a little offended.

"Not if you're being tempted by legitimate bait that you'd be given access to if you joined," Iris replied. "You could complain that he tried to fool you into thinking that you saw the file accidentally, but he didn't try to fool you into joining — that would only happen if you found the material in the file interesting enough that you wanted more, but then were denied access to once you did join."

Hermione nodded grudgingly. "OK, so he was simply being Slytherin in his approach. I guess I can accept that. I'm not exactly happy about being set up like that, but I can think better of him if he wasn't trying to trick me."

"So," Iris said, shifting the topic of discussion, "what did you think of the Hulk?"

"It seems like an incredibly tragic thing to happen to a nice man," Hermione said. "And it's made all the worse by the fact that the military keeps chasing him instead of leaving him alone." After a moment, she added, "I'd love to meet him some time. He sounds fascinating."

"You have a crush?" Iris asked teasingly.

"No!" Hermione said quickly, though there was a slight hint of a blush. "I think he's fascinating — someone so smart and driven yet who has such a bestial alter-ego which comes out when he's angry. It's very... Freudian."

Iris nodded in agreement. "And why do you think it relates to me?"

Hermione looked a little uncomfortable but pressed on. "Well, you are concerned about your ability to control yourself once you get going and start using powerful magic. Dr. Banner has a similar problem. If anything is found that can help him, it might not help you as well because you two have different background issues. No treatment for gamma radiation would help you. However, any techniques that he or others develop to help him stay calm and in control might work for you as well."

"It's a possibility, but I wouldn't get your hopes up too high on that. Banner has been trying for a long time to keep his rage under control, and he has only ever found temporary success."

"Yes, I saw that in his file," Hermione said, "but I won't be giving up on you so easily. I know that I've been focusing on Tony these past few months, but I haven't forgotten you, and I'm not going to ignore your problems."

"Thanks," Iris said with a smile. "I appreciate it."

"And, to be perfectly honest, helping you might mean helping me as well," Hermione added.

"Oh? Is something wrong?"

"Not wrong, exactly," Hermione answered slowly. "But... well, I'm not sure what's going on. I haven't said anything because it hasn't been an actual problem, and I haven't had time to investigate it. But now that Tony's problem is closer to being solved, I can shift some of my attention to this." Iris gestured impatiently for Hermione to get to the point, so she continued, "When you tried to heal me, you might remember that I said I not only felt better, but a bit stronger, too? Well, that feeling has persisted — in fact, it might have increased a bit, though I'm not sure."

"Stronger? Do you mean magically?"

Hermione nodded. "I don't know if I am because I haven't been able to test it. If I am, I'm not sure why I am, or what it might have to do with you since we don't even understand what's going on with you in the first place," she finished helplessly. Then she sighed and took a bite of ice cream. "I don't know what's going on, but I'm finding more and more things I need to investigate."

Just then, Tony came charging in with a bunch of large pieces of wood. A few minutes later, he went back outside, then returned with more of the same.

"Tony," Hermione said. "do you need any help?"

"Nope!" he called back. "I'll be in my lab for the next... few days, probably. Maybe a couple of weeks. No visitors!" And with that, he was gone.

Iris and Hermione looked at each other, both a little worried, but Hermione assured Iris that this wasn't all that unusual for Tony and that if they didn't see him after five days, they'd take a look to make sure he was still alive. In the meantime, Iris decided to start working with Hermione to determine if she was a bit more powerful — and if so, how to use that power.

* * *

 **Malibu, California. August 25, 2009.**

Five days later, Hermione had joined Tony, leaving both Iris and Pepper annoyed because neither of them could readily contribute to whatever was going on down there — a fact they were reminded of bluntly every time they tried. The best they could do was make sure that a steady supply of coffee from the kitchen and pizza from Tony's favorite take-out joint was delivered to the lab.

This did give them a chance to talk and get to know each other, however, and was something much easier to do alone. Pepper was eager to talk because in the wake of her emotional conversation with Tony — something she thanked Iris for pushing him to do — she and Tony had grown much closer. They had, in fact, progressed to the point where Tony had started admitting his feelings for Pepper, though not without more than a little prodding.

They were taking things slowly, in no small part because Pepper had to be tolerant of Tony's tendency to get obsessed with this or that project and disappear for days. Normally she'd talk to Hermione about it... except that Hermione could be as bad as Tony when it came to her projects, and right now, she was down there with him.

"We're like the relationship equivalent of football widows," Iris observed ruefully.

* * *

Eventually even Hermione was kicked out of the lab too. Apparently Tony was willing to share his playroom and toys for only just so long, though Hermione didn't look too put-out by it. When Iris talked to her about it later in private, the brunette witch explained that they had gotten to a point where it was getting more and more difficult for her to help without revealing how her magic and the arc reactor energy interfered with each other.

"So what were you doing before that?" Iris asked.

Hermione took a sip of tea before answering, happy to have gotten away from the black, bitter American drink that Tony preferred. "The starting point was discovering that his father had left a message for him — a message and a bit more of a legacy. Apparently, Howard Stark understood the flaws in the arc reactor technology, but lacked the means to overcome them, even though he had a good idea of how to do it. Hidden in the model of the old Stark Expo was a diagram of a new element — an element that Howard thought would do a better job of powering an arc reactor."

Iris was surprised. She'd often heard Fury praise Howard Stark and his vision, but apparently Tony's father was even cleverer than they realized. "I'll bet that stung a little," she observed, "that his father knew both the problem and the solution long before he did."

"A bit, but Tony doesn't like to talk about that part, for some strange reason."

"Were you able to help with that?"

"Indirectly," Hermione answered. "Tony needed a small particle accelerator to start creating this element. That would have been a major job all by itself, but with careful use of magic I was able to cut the time down a lot. I also needed to add quite a few runes to the accelerator to help ensure that the element would be stable enough to use. While he started working on that, I investigated how magic might be useful in assisting with the final design."

"Wait, wouldn't the energy from the arc reactor interfere with magic?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes, if done in the wrong place. Remember, though, that the arc reactor doesn't leak energy. What I mean is, there's no electrical charge in the reactor's housing. So long as I employ magic outside the components which create and release energy, then insulate the magic from any energy released into the environment, it should be fine." She took another sip of tea. "Of course, that left me with little space to work in."

"Like that's ever stopped you before, Miss Beaded Bag," Iris said with a grin.

"You know me too well," Hermione said, returning the grin. "The first thing I did was create a small space expansion charm, one tied to a rune etched into the metal housing and then insulated from any outside energy. Tony almost cried when I showed him how much more of the new element he'd have to create. After that I etched in more runes to provide stability, health, and protection from radioactivity, "

Iris frowned, noticing a glint in Hermione's eyes. "Then what? You did something else."

"Well, I know you didn't take Arithmancy," Hermione responded slowly, "but you do know that three is a magically and arithmantically significant number?"

"You didn't!" Iris whispered hoarsely.

"Three slots instead of the one, with specialized runes at each point of the triangle!" Hermione crowed. "Tony did break down and cry when I showed him that, but Jarvis agreed with me that it would be far more powerful than Tony's original design, or even the modified design with a single, enlarged slot for the new element." At this point Hermione's expression became almost sad. "That was yesterday. As soon as he recovered from the blow, he threw me out, complaining that he didn't want me around 'improving' things anymore."

Iris laughed so hard that it took hours for Hermione to stop pouting.

* * *

 **Harlem, New York City, USA. August 29, 2009. 5:45 PM.**

The cracking and shifting under his skin was painful, but he would endure. He needed to endure for a little bit longer.

At one time, he had been known as Emil Blonsky. That was what his mother and father had called him, first in Russia where he was born and then later in England, where his family moved to. For years he had served Britain as a professional soldier. He had dedicated his life to fighting the good fight in defense of his adopted nation. He was one of the best of the Royal Marines — so good, in fact, that he was regularly chosen for difficult and dangerous operations around the world.

The fighting had taken its toll on his body and his mind, but he never gave it up — not even when repeatedly offered promotion. Other soldiers his age accepted promotion or early retirement. Or they simply left the service, moving into easier jobs. But not Blonsky. He was a warrior — he lived to fight. In fact, over the years, he had slowly become more and more obsessed with the fight for its own sake, regardless of the cause or reason.

He screamed. Now things were pushing out through his skin — sharp, unnatural things. The ripping and tearing were excruciating, unlike any pain he'd ever experienced before. Not even when the Hulk kicked him into that tree at Culver University and shattered every bone in his body did he suffer this much agony.

General Ross had given him the opportunity to improve himself by offering an injection of an experimental Super Soldier serum which made him stronger and faster. He would have been happy with a body like what he'd had ten years ago, but he had been gifted with a superior body that launched him well beyond what any normal soldier would ever be capable of. He didn't like Ross, though, and probably should have remembered that before accepting the man's "help."

The serum helped him fight the Hulk, but it hadn't been enough. He still lost. The serum helped his body recover from the beating the Hulk had given him, but it still wasn't enough.

Blonsky felt his bones thickening and lengthening. He was growing taller and denser, with new muscles and even new bones taking their places along his body.

He couldn't stand being beaten. Even worse, the Hulk had beaten him without even trying. Blonsky was quicker and more agile due to the serum, but he had been beaten with a single, almost negligent, kick to the chest. In the instant between the kick and blacking out after hitting the tree, Blonsky had realized that he'd never stood a chance. He'd only been fooling himself that the serum would do the trick.

It wasn't enough, but now he had a chance for more... oh, so much more. Whatever it was that had turned Banner into the Hulk, he was getting it now: a gamma ray burst like Banner received so many years ago, this one courtesy of Dr. Samuel Sterns. The man had required a little... persuading, but he knew better than to resist for long.

With a final scream, he ripped apart the bindings that kept him strapped to the table and stood up, marveling at how much bigger he was now. Looking down at himself, he saw the power and resilience that were there now. He also sported a compliment of spikes that jutted out from different parts of his body. _This is a body made for fighting — for war_ , he thought. _It's exactly the sort of body I've always needed. Now I am finally what I always should have been!_

Shoving aside equipment that was hampering him, Blonsky... or the creature that used to be Blonsky... pushed his way over to a window and leapt out into the night, looking for something to destroy.

* * *

 **Flushing Meadows, New York. August 29, 2009. 6:00 PM.**

Pepper, Iris, and Hermione all sat together in the audience, waiting for Justin Hammer's presentation at the Stark Expo to begin. Pepper was there as a representative of Stark Industries and because she thought it was appropriate to show support for a colleague. Iris was there because she didn't like or trust Hammer — and because Tony was still locked up in his lab, so she might as well be useful here. That didn't make her any happier about it.

"Remind me again why we had to come here," Iris whinged.

"Because it's good publicity to show support like this," explained Hermione. "And because you woke up this morning with a funny feeling and wanted to be here, 'just in case.'"

"That doesn't explain why you're here, though," Iris pointed out.

"I'm supporting both of you," Hermione said, starting to get a little annoyed.

Pepper watched the two witches out of the corner of her eye, wondering if they were always like this. Suddenly, the lighting changed, signalling that the show was about to begin. When Justin Hammer walked out, Iris said, "I still don't like him. Something about this guy hacks me off."

"Ssshh!" hissed Pepper.

"If he presents a system that actually works, it'll be a miracle," Hermione pointed out.

"Doesn't he remind you of an especially sleazy used car salesman?" Iris asked.

"Ssshhh!" hissed Pepper again.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I have for you today a new face for America's military: the Hammer drone."

"Hammer drone?" asked Iris. "Sounds like a painful medical condition."

Everyone oohed and aahed as similar looking drones for each branch of the military rose up from underneath the stage. They all looked impressive and dangerous.

"Didn't I see a movie recently about killer robots?" Hermione asked. "I'm pretty sure it turned out badly for everyone involved."

" **Will** you two shut up?!" cried Pepper in exasperation. "I can't take you anywhere!"

Iris and Hermione looked at each other, then turned back to Pepper and stuck out their tongues in perfect unison. Pepper just tsked and rolled her eyes before turning her attention back to the stage.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Justin Hammer announced again, "I have the honor of presenting to you today the first-ever prototype of the Variable Threat Response Battle Suit, piloted by Air Force Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes!" Again from underneath the stage rose Rhodey wearing the spare Iron Man suit which he had taken from Tony on his birthday.

"Well, that looks familiar," observed Iris.

"Very," Hermione said dryly. "With a little more firepower," she added, eying the arms and shoulders now bristling with additional weaponry.

"If they were designed by Hammer, it's more like a fire hazard," Iris responded.

"Tony was being an ass!" Pepper pointed out.

"Right," Iris said, "and that completely justifies taking his toys to his closest and most annoying competitor!"

Pepper shook her head; she had mostly forgiven Tony after he admitted to what had been going on with him, but she still held a grudge over how he'd behaved on his birthday.

"Do you think S.H.I.E.L.D. will ever buy equipment from Hammer?" asked Hermione.

"On the day I quit," Iris declared.

All of a sudden, Tony flew into the pavilion in what appeared to be an upgraded Iron Man suit and immediately landed on stage. None of the women could hear what he was saying to Rhodey, nor what he next said to Hammer — though that second conversation didn't appear to be friendly. One thing that was obvious to Iris was the triangle of light on the suit's chestpiece — the new arc reactor that Hermione had managed to improve, much to Tony's consternation.

Then, before anyone could react, Rhodey's suit started targeting Tony, who immediately launched himself into the air and left the pavilion, thus moving any potential fight away from all of the civilians.

"This is what I was afraid of," Iris said. "Hermione, stick to Pepper and keep her safe. I need to get out there." Hoping that the panicking muggles weren't paying any attention to her, she ducked down between the other two women, twisted, and apparated with a **pop** — presumably to a pre-planned position, Hermione expected. With all of the panic and screaming around them, it was unlikely that anyone would notice or remember.

Grabbing Pepper's arm, Hermione said, "Come on, we need to get to safety."

That was when all hell broke loose.


	9. Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots

**Recommendation** : Story recommendation for this chapter is "The Power He Knows Not" by Steelbadger. In this HP/LotR crossover, Harry has tried to make a life for himself in a strange land after having given up on finding a way back to his home and friends in Britain. It's a life spent in seclusion, though, and when war arrives at his doorstep, he has to choose whether to get involved — and whether to start living again, as opposed to merely existing. Harry/Éowyn.

* * *

 **Chapter 9 - Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots**

 **Flushing Meadows, New York. Late August, 2009. 6:05 PM.**

With Iris having apparated away, Hermione could focus on keeping Pepper safe as they left the pavilion. That was when all hell broke loose as the Hammer drones began firing on Iron Man, who had launched himself up and out of the building to avoid fighting Rhodey in a crowded presentation hall. The drones didn't care that they were firing through a glass roof, causing thousands of pounds of razor-sharp glass to rain down on the unprotected audience.

Casualties from that alone were tremendous, and it was only the _Protego_ shield which Hermione quickly cast that kept the two women from being numbered among them. The small part of her mind that was not caught up in the chaos around them noted that her shield was definitely larger and stronger than usual, which was fortunate given how much glass was raining down on them.

As they moved, Hermione looked around in mute horror as she saw all of the blood and injuries caused by Justin Hammer's latest and most dangerous creation. _If this is how he proposes to defend the United States_ , Hermione thought, _perhaps I should count myself lucky that I'm not an American._

"We need to get backstage," Pepper shouted, trying to be heard over all the shooting and screaming.

"What?" Hermione asked. "We need to find safety!"

"No," Pepper insisted, "we need to get backstage. That's where Hammer should be with the computers controlling his drones. There we can find out what's happening and maybe establish some control over the situation, saving lives."

Hermione bit her lip in hesitation, but only for a moment. Then she nodded and accepted Pepper's argument as she began leading the way to the backstage area to find Justin Hammer and get some answers — even if they had to beat those answers out of him. _Maybe I can use a little subtle magic to force Hammer to talk_ , she thought, mentally running through her options. _I can't cast spells in front of muggles, but Iris has been able to do a lot with magic to enhance her physical abilities. Maybe I can as well? I wish we'd had more time to work together before I got caught up in helping Tony again! We couldn't even determine for sure that I was magically stronger — only some of my spells are a little stronger, and not even all of the time._

That line of thought was cut short as she and Pepper discovered how difficult it was to walk in high heels across ground covered in blood and broken glass. It was a discovery that both women wished they could forget.

* * *

 **Stark Expo, Exterior Grounds. 6:08 PM.**

Iris had apparated to the top of a nearby pavilion. Between crouching down on the top of the dome and the darkness of the night, she was all but invisible as she watched Tony fly up into the sky with Rhodey close behind. Then she watched as the glass ceiling of the pavilion she had just left collapsed in on itself due to all of the drones shooting out at Tony.

Iris was sorely tempted to immediately apparate back, but she held off, reminding herself that she needed to trust Hermione. _Now if she and Pepper can get themselves to safety,_ she thought, _I won't have to worry about them at all and can instead concentrate on the ridiculous robots._

Taking out her tactical headset with bone-conducting earpiece and microphone, she connected it to the tiny radio which was already set to a private frequency Tony used for his Iron Man suits. "Hey, Tony," she said, slipping it on her head. "You there?"

"Iris! I'm glad to hear you," Tony responded. "Wait a sec, let's make this a conference call. Jarvis, patch Iris and Rhodey into the same frequency."

"Done, sir," came the AI's voice.

"Rhodey," Tony continued in his best DJ impersonation, "we have a special guest on the line!"

"Hey, Rhodey," Iris announced herself. "Where are you two boys, anyway? I'm atop the Stark Smartphone pavilion. I didn't bring my broom, so I won't be able to help you in the air."

"Broom?" Rhodey asked in a disbelieving voice. He knew she was a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, but he knew nothing about the magical world or Iris' status as a witch. That had been classified at the highest levels by Nick Fury: he was willing to let her use her birth name, but he wanted the true nature and full extent of her powers kept secret for as long as possible, both to retain a tactic advantage and to avoid complaints about breaking the Statute of Secrecy. _Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned my broom after all_ , Iris realized.

"I'll explain what I can later, Rhodey, don't worry about it," Tony said. "We're passing over a parking lot right now, Iris, and..."

"Tony!" Iris suddenly said. "I have multiple drones launching out of your original pavilion. Let me see what I can do." Pulling out her wand for the sake of accuracy, she pointed it at the drones but hesitated. She looked around at the ground and saw dozens of civilians watching the drones as well. _Too many witnesses right now_ , she thought. "Sorry, Tony," she said next, "but they're too far away to hit any of them, and I've got too many witnesses anyway. I counted at least three dozen, and they're all headed in the same direction I saw you fly in."

"No worries, Iris," Tony said.

"I won't be lonely, though," Iris responded. "I'm seeing another dozen or so marching out of the pavilion. I think they're setting up to provide ground support for the fliers."

"Can you take any of them out for us?" Tony asked.

"Count on it," Iris said confidently as she started vanishing her outer clothing, revealing her skintight, black working outfit, black boots, and the black gloves which she started pulling on. Soon her entire body was like a hole in the night, leaving only her face and dark red hair to signal that there was a person standing there.

"Tony, how is she going to stop even one of these drones?" Rhodey asked. "These drones are military hardware, designed to survive in the middle of an active battlefield. Any one of these drones is supposed to be able to take on an entire company of human troops."

"Don't worry about it," Tony said offhandedly. "She's more than capable — she needs to not be seen, if she can help it. Let's you and me worry about all those incoming bogeys and let Iris worry about what's still on the ground."

Rhodey felt a surge of irritation, knowing that once again he was being kept out of the loop. He'd recently been getting a funny feeling about Iris and Hermione and thought maybe he was picking up on the fact that they were angling to become a couple. Now, though, he wondered if perhaps it was his gut telling him that there was something different and even dangerous about those two women — which would be odd, given that Hermione was simply a research scientist, as far as he could tell.

He shook his head. _No time to worry about that now,_ he told himself. He might just be along for the ride as far as his suit was concerned, but there was tactical information on the drones which he could provide Tony with from the inside — at least until they figured out how to regain control of the damned thing.

* * *

As Hermione and Pepper entered the backstage area, leaving bloody footprints in their wake, Hermione was almost vibrating with pent-up anger. She hadn't seen that much blood and death since the final battle at Hogwarts, and at the time she'd hoped to never see the like again. Soon they could hear Justin Hammer arguing with someone. "What do you mean, he locked us out of our own mainframe? It is our mainframe, isn't it?"

"And who exactly locked you out of your mainframe, Justin?" Pepper asked.

"Oh, not you," Justin whinged. "Just go away. Thank you." Turning to the man at the computer he had presumably been arguing with, he added in a lower voice, "Can we get security to remove these bitches from the area?" It wasn't nearly low enough to not be heard, though.

"Who's behind this?" Hermione demanded. After hearing Hammer's comments, she now had a legitimate target for her anger and was waiting for him to say the wrong word.

"Who are you, again, missy?" Hammer asked, his voice dripping with condescension.

That was the word.

Channeling her magic into her right arm like she had heard Iris describe, Hermione grabbed Hammer by the front of his shirt, lifted him in the air, and slammed him against the wall hard enough to crack the wood paneling. Feeling much angrier than she expected to, she leaned in closer to Hammer and growled, "Tell me. **Now**. Who is behind this?"

The expression on Hammer's face cycled between fear and shock as he stammered out, "V-vanko! Ivan Vanko!"

"He's still alive?" Pepper asked incredulously.

"Sure, he's working for me."

"And **where** is he working for you right now?" Hermione demanded.

"I have a facility in East Rockaway!" Hammer cried out as he felt himself being pushed deeper into the wall.

"Thank you," Hermione said as she let Hammer drop to the ground. Turning to Pepper, she said, "I'm heading out there to see if I can stop the drones at that end and maybe catch Vanko as well. Let the others know if you talk to them, OK?"

Pepper nodded as she pulled out her cell phone and asked for the police. "No!" Hammer cried weakly from the floor, but he was ignored by everyone else in the room. After she was confident that the police were on their way, Pepper stepped over to the computer and asked the man there to walk her through the problem he was having.

* * *

 _That... felt good_ , Hermione thought as she exited out the back of the pavilion. _I'm surprised it worked so well, since it was my first attempt, but maybe it's not as hard as Iris made it out to be? She doubted I'd be able to do it because she assumed her ability to add magic to physical acts is a consequence of her expanded magical core infusing her entire body... but what if the truth is much simpler?_

Hermione suddenly had an epiphany. _Iris_ _ **needed**_ _to learn how to do it because she wanted to avoid using spells; most wizards and witches are lazy and use spells for everything, so perhaps she was the first who tried hard enough because she needed it badly enough? One more thing to investigate..._

As she approached the car they'd arrived in, Happy jumped out and said, "I can't get anyone on the phone. Do you know what's happening?"

"Get in and drive. I need to get to the Hammer Industries facility in East Rockaway."

"What? No. I'm not driving anywhere," Happy protested.

"Then give me the keys and I'll drive, because I'm going one way or another," Hermione responded, her voice cold and commanding. She hadn't yet let go of all the anger from dealing with Hammer and was short on patience.

"Fine," Happy said resignedly. "I'll drive. East Rockaway, you said?"

"Yeah," Hermione replied as she jumped in the back seat. "Try the Cross Island Expressway. Since all emergency and police units will be heading for the expo, you probably don't need to worry about getting a speeding ticket." Happy grinned — Tony didn't often let him drive fast in the course of his chauffeuring duties.

Once they had left, Hermione noticed a bag sitting on the seat next to her and remembered Iris' comments from earlier that evening during the trip to the Expo: "Hermione, this might not be necessary now, but it will probably be necessary eventually. This bag contains a bodysuit like mine, designed to fit you, complete with boots and gloves. There's also a special radio and microphone that you can use to keep in contact with me and Tony." Hermione had tried to refuse it, but Iris insisted, saying that it might save her life if she got into trouble.

Hermione had left it in the car, not giving it another thought. Now, she was glad that Iris had had the foresight to prepare it for her. As quickly as she could manage in the cramped confines of the backseat, she started to undress.

* * *

With a soft pop, Iris apparated to an awning above and behind the drones that were setting themselves up on the steps in front of the pavilion. The increase in screams behind her told her all she needed to know about how badly things were going for the innocent bystanders so far... and that it would only get worse the longer these machines were allowed to run free. The only good thing about their destructive tendencies was that people would run away from them instead of standing around gawking, which meant she wouldn't have any muggle witnesses for what she was about to do.

Iris waited until they had bolted themselves to the concrete, stabilizing themselves before using the large cannon mounted on their backs. Once locked in place, they were unable to shift and direct their fire at her. With an incantation of _"_ _ **Confringo!**_ _"_ she used explosive blasting curses to take off the heads of the drones, one by one. She had the entire back row and half of the front decapitated before any of them started reacting, finally craning their narrow heads around to look behind them. The last one finally looked right at her before its head exploded in a shower of sparks and debris.

"Tony," Iris spoke into her radio, "ground support has been neutralized."

"Thanks," Tony replied. "See what you can do for the civilians and casualties. I'm going to try leading Rhodey and the other drones away from the Expo."

"Copy," Iris said, not wanting to tell Tony that whoever was still alive might already be too far gone for even her to save. She'd try anyway, though.

* * *

 **Hammer Industries, East Rockaway, Long Island. 6:15 PM.**

Ivan Vanko took off his glasses and leaned in close to the frozen image on the monitor, examining the face of the one he was certain had been responsible for destroying two entire platoons of his drones in mere minutes — despite having no obvious weapon in her hands. It looked like the same woman Stark had brought on his visit to the French prison, which meant that she was helping him.

He had known even then that something was not right with her. He didn't understand what it was and he didn't even know how he knew it, but he definitely felt that there was some sort of wrongness there. It hung about the redhead like a cloak of shadows and pain.

"There you are, _suka_ ," Vanko whispered to the monitor. "Who or what are you? What is your relationship with Tony Stark, hm?"

He had been hoping that they would meet again because he was looking forward to learning all he could about the redhead. He was quite sure that she wouldn't enjoy a second of it.

* * *

 **Stark Expo, Exterior Grounds. 6:20 PM.**

The paramedics and civilians with medical training were doing all that could be done for the wounded and dying inside the pavilion, so Iris moved back outside to see what she could do to support Tony. Although he had led the drones away from the expo, they ended up driving him back, and the collateral damage from their repeated passes was mounting constantly.

Where she could, she cast shields to protect civilians, whether from stray rounds that missed Tony or from the falling debris resulting from the fight. Occasionally she would find a chance to take pot shots at the drones when they flew by, but she had yet to hit any of them — they were simply flying too fast for basic combat spells, and she hadn't yet figured out what to try instead.

Then she suddenly got an inspiration for how she could at least help Tony in the air. "Tony," she said over the radio, "if I did something to interfere with their heat sensors, would that help you? Would it hurt you?

"I think it's worth doing," Rhodey responded.

"I concur, sir," JARVIS added. "The drones appear to use heat sensors for their primary navigation systems. Without their heat sensors, they will have a harder time targeting you, but you will not be impeded."

"OK, Iris," Tony announced, "the consensus is to try it."

"Copy," Iris responded before kneeling down in the middle of a pile of rubble that was hidden in the shadows of a dark, deserted walkway.

Inanimate-to-animate transfiguration was an OWL-level skill. Mass inanimate-to-animate transfiguration was a NEWT-level skill. Inanimate-to-animate transfiguration where the target was a magical creature was supposed to be impossible. And doing it in a large quantity, all at once? That had never even been considered.

But Iris Potter didn't know that, which was probably why she didn't think twice about trying. Constantly cycling through the proper wand movements and chanting the right incantation over and over while focusing on her target animal, Iris pushed her magic hard to complete the mass transfiguration. The concrete and steel rubble around her began to quiver, then shake, then it rose into the air and seemed to turn to liquid as it began to impossibly shift. Some pieces grew in size; others shrank. All began growing wings, feathers, tails and beaks.

Finally, Iris was surrounded by dozens of birds covered with red and orange feathers while wisps of flame moved up and down their bodies. Waiting until she could hear the sound of the drones approaching as they headed for the large steel globe at the center of the expo, she cried out _"_ _ **Oppugno!**_ _"_ and the massed phoenixes all rose into the air, straight into the path of the drones.

Between the interference created by the red-hot temperature of the phoenixes and the damage caused when some of the phoenixes decided to attack the drones directly, almost all of them lost control and went tumbling into the steel globe, causing most of the drones to be destroyed.

She was shocked when a familiar but unexpected voice came through on her radio: "Hello? Is anyone there?"

* * *

 **Cross Island Expressway, Long Island. 6:22 PM.**

"When we get there, Happy, I want you to watch the outside of the building while I go in to deal with Vanko," Hermione said as she eased out of her skirt and started pulling on the bodysuit which Iris had made for her. _This thing is skin tight and as hard as armor, yet still stretchy and glides on like liquid_ , Hermione thought to herself. _I have_ _ **got**_ _to find out what spells Iris used on this!_

A sudden blaring of another car's horn and their own car swerving on the road broke Hermione out of her musings. "Keep your eyes on the road, Happy," Hermione growled. "Or I'll tell Iris."

"Yes, ma'am," Happy replied dutifully, even as he re-adjusted his rearview mirror for a better view.

After she was completely changed, she reached into the bag and pulled out the small radio. A quick look at the instructions told her to put the tiny bone mic into her ear, run the wire along her collar, and plug it into the radio which attached at the back of her neck. Once it was set up, she turned it on and said uncertainly, "Hello? Is anyone there?"

"Hermione!" came three voices almost simultaneously, though Hermione only perceived two and thought she was simply talking to Iris and Tony.

"What are you doing?" Iris asked her.

"I'm with Happy," Hermione replied. "We're on our way to Little Rockaway, where Hammer has a facility. He told me that Vanko is working there and is apparently responsible for the drones going berserk. I figure I might be able to shut down the drones from that end, saving all of you a lot of work."

"What?!" Iris cried.

"What about Pepper?" Tony asked. "I thought you were watching her."

"I left her backstage with Hammer's people," Hermione explained. "She was going to try to see what she could do with the computers at that end and had already called the NYPD."

"It's too dangerous," Iris protested. "You can't go!"

"It's a good idea," Tony said. "Stay safe."

"It is **not** a good idea!" Iris bellowed. "Hermione, you need to get back here."

"No, Iris, I need to do this," Hermione retorted, getting annoyed and forgetting about Happy's presence. "I'm not a porcelain doll that needs to be protected all of the time. As a fully qualified witch, I'm quite capable of taking care of myself, especially against one muggle. I managed for years without you around, after all, and if you'll remember, I may even be a bit better now than I was a few months ago."

"This is different," Iris insisted. "Vanko is dangerous. I don't want you going up against him at all, much less alone. I don't want you getting hurt by that madman."

"Iris Potter, I'll have you know that you are not my boss and I don't take orders from you," Hermione said, clearly angry now. "My actual boss has confidence in my abilities, and I'm sorry that you don't!" With that, Hermione turned off her radio entirely.

"How long?" she snapped at Happy.

"About ten minutes," he replied, moving his rearview mirror back to its standard position. He had enjoyed the view, but he didn't want to attract her obvious anger. He also had some things to think about — like what did she mean by "fully qualified witch," and what the heck was a muggle?

Hermione was soon deep in thought herself. At first she was simply mad that Iris didn't have faith in her abilities; soon, though, she started to realize that maybe she wasn't doing this simply because it was necessary, but also because she felt that she had something to prove. These last weeks with Iris had demonstrated to her that her green-eyed friend had progressed quite far in her combat skills since Hogwarts, whereas Hermione had let those skills languish. She wasn't any less skilled with spells, but her speed, accuracy, and overall fitness had declined through disuse.

Despite the fact that she was still clearly more knowledgeable when it came to things like magical theory, she had begun to feel inadequate in fighting, and that wasn't something she was comfortable with. Here, though, she had been gifted with an opportunity to prove that she could fight, too, just like Iris. Before she could follow that thought and consider its implications, however, they arrived at their destination.

* * *

 **Stark Expo, Exterior Grounds. 6:25 PM.**

"Stark," Iris growled into her radio, "so help me, if anything happens to her, I'm taking it out of your hide."

"Hermione is a big girl, Iris," Tony protested. "She can make her own choices, and her idea is a good one."

"You **encouraged** her," Iris said. "She is **not** trained for combat. She hasn't had to fight in over a **decade**. She's not ready for this sort of thing, and she could easily get injured when going up against a madman like Vanko. Pray she comes back in one piece." Iris' radio then clicked off as she turned to focus her anger on the remaining drones.

"She didn't sound too happy with you, Tony," Rhodey said over the radio.

"Yeah, well, she'll get over it," Tony said dismissively. "What's your twenty?"

For an answer, Tony was knocked from the sky when Rhodey's suit slammed into him, causing them both to tumble down into an environmental pavilion filled with trees and grass.

* * *

Iris found a way to vent her frustration and attack the drones more directly. Abandoning her efforts to protect civilians, much less avoid being seen by them, she started apparating around the expo, from one rooftop to another, targeting drones both in the air and on the ground, paying no heed to where the pieces of damaged or destroyed drones fell. The collateral damage she caused was significant, but the eventual investigation would not be able to attribute it to her.

Creating a large number of magical animals out of rubble had required quite a bit of magic, and constant apparition was using even more, but she was oblivious to that as she continually launched explosive blasting hexes at one drone after another. It was slow, inefficient, and costly, but it was satisfying her anger, and that was all that mattered to her at that point.

Nearby, a raven sitting on a pile of rubble cawed as it ruffled its feathers, simultaneously attracted to and disturbed by the magic and emotions roiling off of the enraged witch.

* * *

 **Hammer Industries, East Rockaway, Long Island. 6:35 PM.**

"Wait out here with the car," Hermione commanded as she leapt out of the vehicle before it even came to a full stop.

Happy tried to get out as quickly as he could to follow. "No way, I'm not staying here with the car. I'm not leaving you alone."

Hermione knew that Happy had no idea about her magic (having completely forgotten the things she had blurted out in anger during her argument with Iris) and so knew that she should be more tolerant of his desire to help. However, for reasons she couldn't fathom she just snapped, "Fine, but stay out of my way," as she stalked towards the door.

"What on earth are you wearing?" Happy asked when they came under the bright outside lights and he got a good look at her outfit. "Are those... are those _scales_?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact they are," Hermione said with a small smirk. "Snake scales, to be precise."

"Snake?" Happy asked incredulously. "How many snakes did it take to make that? And why would anyone bother? Snake skin isn't protective."

"Actually, it only took one snake," Hermione responded. "The same snake that Iris used to make her outfit, in fact, and I'm sure that there's enough to make a dozen more — bodysuits, boots, and gloves." As she said this, she raised one of her gloved hands and flexed the fingers, enjoying how it looked and felt.

"You're joking!" Happy said, but when Hermione turned to face him, he could tell that she was being serious.

"Nope, not joking," Hermione said. "It's basilisk hide, and the millennium-old basilisk this came from was about thirty meters long and five meters in diameter." She watched as Happy's face paled at the thought of any snake that old and large, and she wondered briefly why she seemed to be enjoying scaring him like that. "Basilisk eyes alone can kill with a look, and its venom is the deadliest poison on the planet. Iris killed this one with a sword when she was only twelve years old."

"Sonuva Bitch!" Happy said, still having trouble believing it.

"So if you still want to help," Hermione added with a touch of menace in her voice, "don't get in my way." She kicked open the front doors, startling a security guard who moved to stop them. She let Happy take care of him since he went immediately to intercept the guard. While he was doing that, she focused on the guards who started pouring out of the far doors.

With Happy otherwise engaged behind her, Hermione knew she could get away with using magic without being noticed by him. She didn't even think about drawing her wand, which was held securely in a special holster that Iris had integrated into the bodysuit's forearm. Almost instinctively, she threw both hands out in front of her and banished a dozen guards against the walls, knocking several of them out and cracking the plastic walls in the process. _Wow_ , she thought, _that was... new. How did I manage to do that? Wandless magic is supposed to be a lot harder._

Such self-reflection ended quickly when she saw that those not unconscious were trying to get back up. Hermione didn't give them a chance, pulling out her wand now and sending out multiple bludgeoning hexes to their faces and chests. Had she chosen to attack from closer range, they might have tried to hit her or been able to pull out a taser, but she was so far away while casting spells that they never even understood the nature of the threat, much less were able to find a way to fight back.

None of the other guards Hermione encountered fared any better as she moved deeper into the facility. Two were waiting for her as she walked around one corner, but a quick _"_ _ **Stupefy!**_ _"_ sent a stunner not just from her wand, but also from her left hand, dropping both guards before they even realized that they had engaged the intruder. At another intersection, three guards attempted to take her down together and got to within grappling range, but without even thinking about it, Hermione cast spells directly into their bodies as she grabbed them, rendering them unconscious as they flew into the walls.

Filled with an anger and determination that even she didn't understand, she continued her destructive march through the facility, daring anyone to try to stop her.

* * *

Ivan Vanko looked closely at the security monitor as the strange woman tore through the facility's guard force. " _Shto_ _ **vy**_ _?_ " he asked the empty room.

 _This isn't the same woman that I saw earlier through the drone — the woman I originally saw in the French prison_ , he noted. _**That**_ _woman took down two squads of drones without any obvious weapon, and in only a couple of minutes._ _ **This**_ _woman is taking down the security guards as if they were nothing, and without any obvious weapons._

 _Coincidence?_ he asked himself. _Not likely. Time to suit up._

* * *

Hermione kicked in the door and stepped into the room with her wand raised while Happy followed right behind. It had taken him a while to finally beat that first guard, but when he had finished, he quickly caught up to her.

"There's no one here," Happy observed, looking all around for any more threats.

"The coward ran away," Hermione said, returning her wand to the holster and moving to the computer terminal.

"What are you doing?"

"From what I can see on this screen, it looks like Rhodey's suit has been hacked and is being controlled from here. If I reboot the operating system, he might get control of it again." Hermione explained. "Then I'm going to try to shut down the drones. If I can't do the second, Tony will at least have an easier time fighting with Rhodey on his side. Though... it looks like almost all of the drones are down anyway."

Happy liked the sound of that, despite being a little overwhelmed by the complex data flowing by on the terminal.

When the screen showed "Reboot Complete," she turned her radio back on. "Tony," she said, "I've rebooted Rhodey's system. With any luck, your friend should be back in a minute or two."

"Thanks, Hermione," Tony replied.

"And how are you doing?"

"This suit is showing much higher power output, and Mr. Stark's vital signs all look good," JARVIS cut in to say.

"I take it the new element is working well, then?"

"Yep," Tony said, "Not only is it not causing a bad reaction, but it reversed all the damage that the palladium had already caused."

"That might be due in part to the healing runes I etched into the outer housing of your reactor," Hermione pointed out.

"Hermione!" Iris called out, desperation obvious in her voice. "Are you OK?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine," she responded. "I didn't have any problems, and Happy is here with—"

At that moment, Happy screamed and the connection cut out.

"Hermione!" Iris said, her voice now filled with fear. " **Hermione!** "

* * *

Hermione experienced a sudden feeling of weightlessness as she was pulled out of her chair and went flying through the air, hitting the back wall of the room with a dull thud. All of her concentration had been focused on the computer in front of her and the voices on her radio, so she never heard Vanko open a hidden door and step in wearing his new powered suit.

Hermione blinked rapidly and shook her head in an attempt to see properly, but when she looked around she could have sworn that two large powered suits were walking towards her, both with Vanko's laughing face sitting atop the shoulders. Growling, Hermione raised hands so she could hex each of the figures in front of her, but the blow to her head had slowed her down, and Vanko reached her first, picking her up and slamming her against the wall again, once more stunning her.

"I had hoped to get the other woman and interrogate her to learn her secrets," Vanko said in a leering voice, "but I think that maybe you have similar secrets, so I will talk to you. I learned many interesting interrogation techniques while in Russian prisons, most of them first hand. I look forward to sharing with you."

When Hermione again started to regain her bearings and tried to focus enough to come up with a spell to cast, Vanko slammed her into the wall yet again. "No, no, _suka_. I do not know how you do the things you do... not yet, at any rate. But I am sure that you will not be able to do them so long as you are disoriented, yes?"

Whatever was wrong with her head felt like it was getting worse, and on top of it all Hermione also felt like maybe she was getting sick as well. _Concussion_ , she thought, _and perhaps a serious one. If I don't get it together, though, who knows what else he might do to me._

Hermione had hit her head so hard and so many times by that point that it had taken nearly a full minute for those thoughts to coalesce, and by then Vanko had already carried her to the other side of the room and tied her to a chair.

"Now, suka, maybe you can tell me about yourself. What I most want to learn, though, is how it is that you and the other woman affect me the way you do. Every time one of you gets close, I can feel it in my head." Vanko pointed to the back of his head with his armored glove. "It's like a needle in my mind, digging in. Not too painful, but uncomfortable. I don't like it, and I want to know what you are doing to me. Then, we can move on to how it is you could take down the entire security force without any weapons."

Vanko leered at her again as he used a finger to lift up her chin. "You will talk to me, sooner or later. Sooner is more convenient, but later is good, too. More fun that way, I think, yes?" He then grabbed her left hand, secured by the wrist to the chair, and began to squeeze. "This is the part where you can scream, if you'd like. I don't mind at all — honest."

Hermione didn't say anything at first; she wasn't even aware of the pressure on her hand, at least until her bones started to break with a sickening crack. Then Hermione screamed like she hadn't screamed since that awful afternoon in Malfoy manor, over a decade earlier.

Vanko laughed and said, "Yes, that's it, I'm glad to see that you know how to scream. Maybe this isn't your first time? You'll be doing a lot more of that shortly, I promise you."

The intense pain overwhelmed Hermione at first, but it also brought her attention to bear on the problem in front of her. Almost instinctively, she began to push magic through her now-crushed hand. There was no structured spell or incantation, nor was there any conscious intent. Instead, it was raw magic fueled by pain and a desire for that pain to end. The large concentration of magic interfered with the electronics in the glove, preventing it from closing any further. The magic also tried to heal her hand, but because the glove hadn't moved away, her hand couldn't reform properly.

Vanko frowned, trying to figure out why his glove was malfunctioning, when a series of warning alarms sounded from the computer console to his left. Both of them looked over and saw the same thing: all of the drones showed as inoperative instead of deployed. This could only mean that Iris, Tony, and Rhodey had succeeded in eliminating the drone threat. Hermione wanted to cheer, but all that came out was a choked sob.

 _"Yob tvoyu mat!"_ Vanko exclaimed, releasing Hermione's hand, causing her to gasp in relief and further pain. Because she was no longer unconsciously pushing magic through her hand, however, it didn't start healing.

Looking back down at Hermione, he said, "I'm afraid that I'm going to have to cut this short. If I can, I'll return so we can continue our conversation." He then lowered the face plate on his armor and launched himself straight up through the roof, causing a great deal of debris to rain down on Hermione, producing further injuries.

Off in a corner, Hermione saw what looked like a crumpled body. When it seemed to move, she called out in a hoarse whisper, "Happy?" When it moved some more, she continued a bit louder, "Happy? Can you hear me? I'm over here."

Slowly, a head rose up and she could see now that it was indeed Happy, but he didn't look like he was in much better shape than she was. There was blood running down his face, and she was sure that one arm must have been broken, given its unnatural angle. "Happy?" she called again. "If you can get me untied, I'll help get us out of here."

Slowly, Happy pulled himself to his knees, but that was as far as he could get, so he crawled on one arm over to her chair. Between his teeth and one barely-functioning hand, he was able to release her bonds. She was thankful that it was her left hand Vanko had decided to crush, since that meant she was still able to use her wand — she was too tired and injured to risk mucking about with wandless magic.

After pulling out her wand, she cast a strong numbing charm on her left hand as well as on Happy's broken arm. He looked confused at what was going on and why his arm suddenly felt better, but she said, "Don't worry about it right now. Just trust that it will work."

She put her wand back in its holster and helped him stand up, then the two badly injured people slowly limped out of the room while trying to support each other.

"Next time," Happy said in a pained whisper, "I think I'll wait with the car."

"Yeah," Hermione agreed tiredly, "me too."


	10. Abominations

**A/N** : The plural in the title is deliberate.

 **Recommendation** : Story recommendation for this chapter is "A Fate Worse Than Death" by Clell65619. Hermione finds out the truth of how and why Harry was able to survive the killing curse as an infant, and nothing will ever be the same again. HP/Buffy crossover.

* * *

 **Chapter 10 - Abominations**

 **Flushing Meadows, New York City. 6:45 PM.**

Pepper Potts exited the main presentation pavilion to find Iris standing there with one hand held to her ear.

"Hermione!" she cried, her voice filled with fear. " **Hermione!** "

Just as Pepper reached the black-clad woman, Iris started to wobble and bent over double, breathing hard.

"I'm trying to find out where Hermione went," Iris said quickly, getting desperate. "I need to get to her. Something terrible has happened. She was on the radio when suddenly..." She trailed off and sucked in her breath as another wave of dizziness passed over her.

"Are you alright?" Pepper asked, placing a hand on her shoulder and bending down to look at her face. Iris immediately grabbed Pepper's arm in an effort to steady herself.

"I don't know," Iris said. "I suddenly don't feel so good. My head is buzzing, and I feel a little nauseated."

"Maybe you hit your head in the fight?"

"No, I didn't get hurt at all, much less in my head."

"Come on, you're in no shape to help her like this. Let's get back inside and find you a place to sit down. Then we'll figure out where Hermione went." A few minutes later, Iris was sitting in a chair in the deserted backstage area, and Pepper was trying to decide if she could leave her to go look for a glass of water.

"Thanks," Iris said, her voice a bit steadier. "I'm doing better now." She flexed her left hand gingerly and stared at it in obvious confusion. "I wish I knew why my hand aches now, though."

Pepper nodded and pulled out her phone. "I'm going to call Tony — maybe he or JARVIS can tell us something about Hermione." She was about to say something else, but she was interrupted by a beeping from the remains of a Hammer drone that had earlier crashed through the roof.

Iris frowned at the red light blinking in tandem with the noise. "That doesn't sound good..."

A crackling came over the radio, and Iris heard Tony shout, "Iris! Pepper! Where are you? All the drones are rigged to explode!"

Iris shot a glance at the blinking drone again and got heavily to her feet. "Right, then — time to go! Sorry about this..." she added as she took Pepper's arm.

"Sorry about wha—" Pepper tried to ask, but she was cut off as she suddenly felt like she was being squeezed through a straw and spit out the other end. Once she was standing again, she promptly collapsed on her knees and started heaving from the nausea that hit her. "What... the hell... was that?" she gasped.

"That's side-along apparition," Iris answered as she leaned against a wall. "It's always a bit... uncomfortable your first time. Don't worry, though, it's that way for everyone, though I suppose it might be a bit worse for you since you're not magical. You'll eventually get used to it, and it's much smoother with me than with anyone else."

"Unpleasant? That was horrible!" Pepper cried.

"Look on the bright side: it only took us a second to get to Tony's apartment in Manhattan."

"Never again!" Pepper insisted while shaking her head vigorously. "Never again!"

"Tony?" Iris called over her radio. "We're at your apartment. Pepper is a little ill from the apparition, but she'll be alright."

"Easy for you to say," Pepper was heard muttering from the floor.

"What about you and Rhodey?" Iris continued.

"We're fine," Tony responded. "We took care of Vanko. Permanently. What about the civilians at the expo?"

"I think the NYPD must have evacuated everyone — we didn't see anyone when we were inside a minute ago." She looked over at Pepper, who nodded in confirmation as she tried to get up.

"Good. I'm on my way to you now."

"No, Tony, I need you to find Hermione!" Iris demanded, her worry now returning in a rush. "Something horrible has happened to her, I know it!"

"Are you sure?" Tony asked, sounding dubious.

"I'm positive!" Iris responded. "If you know where she is, you have to get to her!"

"Sir," Iris heard JARVIS say, "the transponder from your car reads as being at the Hammer facility in East Rockaway."

"OK," Tony said, "I'll head there first."

"I'll join you," Rhodey chimed in.

"Thank you," Iris said, "Thank you both." She slumped against the wall and slowly slid down to the floor, feeling as though maybe she could finally breathe again.

* * *

 **Hammer Industries, East Rockaway, Long Island. 6:53 PM.**

"Tony, is this channel private?" Rhodey asked.

"It can be, just a sec," Tony responded. A moment later he continued, "OK, it's just us and JARVIS now. What's up?"

"I'm worried about what Iris was doing tonight," Rhodey said.

"Why? She was a big help, wasn't she?"

"Absolutely," Rhodey agreed. "I still don't understand what it was that she was doing, but a couple of times there near the end, it looked like she was attacking drones without regard for nearby civilians."

"Really?" Tony asked, surprised.

"Yeah, well, since I wasn't in control here I had more opportunity to enjoy the sights," Rhodey said irritably. "I didn't see her hurt any civilians, but she might have, and she didn't seem to act like she cared — though I admit that I never saw her for long." He wanted to comment more on some of the things he saw, especially in conjunction with Hermione describing herself as a "witch," but now wasn't the time.

Tony was silent for a moment, so Rhodey continued, "Now we're going to look for Hermione, and if I remember correctly, Iris threatened to take it out of your hide if she got hurt."

"Uh, good point. I'm glad I've got you watching my back."

"That might not be enough, sir," came JARVIS' voice. "And by the way, that's the facility below."

As Tony and Rhodey landed by the car, they saw Happy and Hermione limping slowly out of the building. It was obvious that both would need medical attention, and soon.

"Hey, guys," Tony said as he landed beside the car. "You look like shit."

"You're not looking so good yourself, boss," Happy responded while attempting to smile, but it came out as a grimace. The missing teeth didn't help.

"It'll be faster if we carry you two to a hospital," Rhodey suggested.

"Agreed," said Tony. "I'll take you, Hermione." As he gently lifted her up bridal-style, he added quietly, "Iris is extremely worried about you. She seemed to know that you had been hurt." Hermione simply nodded, then looked over at where Rhodey was picking up Happy in a similar manner. Tony could see the guilt on her face. "Don't worry," he assured her, "you'll both be fine."

Both men then took off, though much more slowly and gently than they usually did, and headed for a hospital in Manhattan.

* * *

 **Sterns Lab, Harlem, New York City. 6:50 PM.**

While Tony and Rhodey were flying from Queens to East Rockaway, Samuel Sterns looked around at his demolished Harlem lab and marveled at how little regret he felt.

That morning his lab and his work had been his life — he had devoted everything he had to them. Now, though, he recognized how small and petty it all was. Now, he was able to see multiple paths to true greatness, discovery, and power. He wondered briefly why he hadn't seen any of it before, and why he had wasted so much time with such menial labor, but quickly dismissed such mistakes as belonging to the past.

The future was going to be very, very different...

Stepping past the body of the female major who had been so annoying a few minutes ago, he silently thanked that abomination which he had created for eliminating her. She'd have been in his way if she'd still been alive. She would have tried to stop him... to stop the inevitable progress that he would bring. It would have been a shame if he'd had to kill her himself. Such tasks were best left to underlings.

 _I wonder where that beast went after it left my lab?_ he wondered, then dismissed the question as ultimately irrelevant. He didn't care what it did so long as it created enough of a distraction for him to get away cleanly.

"Stop right there," came a voice from behind him.

"Who are you?" he asked as he turned, quickly trying to evaluate how much of a threat this man was.

"My name is Agent Coulson. I'm with Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division."

"That's quite a mouthful," Sterns responded, playing for time.

"We're working on it," the agent replied laconically, though Sterns could tell from micro-expressions on his face that he wasn't being entirely truthful. "And you are?" Coulson prompted.

"I'm Dr. Samuel Sterns," he said. "This is, or at least _was_ , my lab. It got destroyed when Bruce Banner was taken into custody." When Coulson nodded, he continued, "I should get going, I..."

"Actually, doctor, I should take you to see the paramedics," Coulson said, then gestured up to his own head. "You've got, uh... something, up here."

Sterns knew what the agent was talking about, but he had hoped that the lighting would be bad enough that Coulson wouldn't notice. _Pity_ , Sterns thought, _now I'll have to take care of him myself. It will be interesting to see how well I do when I take my first life._

"But I feel fine," Sterns protested in what he thought was a disarming tone of voice as he moved closer to the agent. "I promise that if I feel any strange symptoms, I'll go right to the emergency room."

"I'm afraid that I can't let you leave, doctor," Coulson said, much more firmly now. He also pulled out a pistol and added, "I'm also going to have to ask you to not come any closer and just stand still until we get a team in here."

Sterns stopped, not having expected the agent to escalate so quickly. _OK_ , he thought, _plan B, then._

"I'm sure you don't want to do this, agent," Sterns said. "I'm sure you have much better things to do with your time. Important people to talk to or to capture. I'm a nobody." Not seeing any change in the agent's face, he tried a slightly different approach. "I have quite a lot of valuable material here," Sterns said offhandedly. "Once I'm gone, no one will miss it if it disappears. Right over here, in fact..."

As he started moving towards whatever he thought he could bribe Coulson with, the agent promptly shot him in the leg.

Sterns cried out as he collapsed to the floor. "You shot me!"

"Good catch," Coulson replied levelly. "I can see why you're a doctor."

"You fool! I'm now the most intelligent man on the planet!" Sterns shouted. "You will not be able to stop me from doing what I think needs to be done!"

"No, you're a prisoner who's bleeding on the floor," Coulson responded, "And you can't even follow basic instructions." Looking behind him, he saw the S.H.I.E.L.D. team coming up the stairs. "The nice government agents are here to take you into custody now. Do try to follow their orders, because they won't be as patient with you as I was."

With that, Agent Coulson left the room, because he definitely had better things to do with his time. He had just gotten a text about a monster being sighted a few blocks away.

 **Harlem, New York City. 7:00 PM.**

Harlem was being torn apart by a monster the likes of which New York City had never seen. At one time, the monster had gone by the name Emil Blonsky, a professional soldier who spent his life fighting for his adopted nation as a Royal Marine. More recently, he mostly fought simply because he enjoyed fighting: he had refused numerous promotions because he felt most alive when he was in the field, engaged in combat. Spending his days tied to a desk would have killed him faster than a bullet.

Once injected with an experimental Super Soldier serum and then, earlier that evening, with a new compound based on Bruce Banner's blood, his outer form had transformed to match his inner self: ugly, brutish, enraged, and destructive. Wreaking havoc across the streets of Harlem, he destroyed property and hurt people simply because he could. He wasn't looking to conquer or rule; he desired neither money nor fame. He simply wanted to fight and to hurt others, though he would have prefered to have a challenge, if possible.

Which was why he hoped that Bruce Banner's alter ego, the Hulk, would show up soon...

* * *

Agent Coulson stepped back into the shadows at the side of the building and hit the speed dial on his cell phone.

"Fury here," came the voice on the other end.

"It's Coulson. The initial reports were correct, if understated. There's a large, brownish-grey creature, heavily muscled and bearing numerous boney spikes, that's tearing apart Harlem. There are police and military units trying to engage, but they aren't having any luck."

"Yeah, and it's going to get worse," Fury responded. "Those military units are under General Ross' command. I have a report that he finally captured Banner. I'd bet my pension that that creature you're seeing has something to do with Banner's experiments, and Ross is going to either try to capture or kill it. If Banner gets loose as well..."

"We won't have a Harlem by morning," Coulson finished for him.

"Keep monitoring the situation," Fury ordered him, "but don't get too close. Don't risk yourself. I'm going to call in other assets."

"Can you tell me who?".

"The Black Witch," came the response, then the connection was cut.

* * *

 **Manhattan, New York City. 7:22 PM.**

Pepper was drinking a glass of Tony's expensive whiskey in an attempt to calm her nerves when Iris clicked off her phone. "I've been called in to help with a dangerous situation in Harlem," she said. "I don't know how long I'll be, so don't wait up."

"Are you going to be OK?" Pepper asked, worry clear in her voice.

"I'm tired, I'll admit," Iris responded, rising to her feet with some effort. "Exhausted, even — some of that fighting took a lot out of me. But I'm sure I'll be fine, especially since we know Hermione is being taken to a hospital." With a pop, she apparated out to one of the many locations in the city that she'd scouted in advance for just such an emergency.

Arriving at a high point over Harlem, Iris started looking for the problem, and it didn't take long to find it. Originally, she'd been called in to deal with a large creature rampaging in the streets, but now there were **two** such creatures — one of which was the Hulk. Both were fighting and both looked very, very pissed off.

"Oh, this is just my day," Iris muttered tiredly to herself. "First killer robots, now rampaging, mutant monsters. What's next, an alien invasion of New York City?"

With another pop, she apparated to the top of a building above the fight. She watched as the Hulk used his fists to pound the larger creature deeper and deeper into the pavement, but suddenly it kicked out and sent the Hulk flying into a building about half a block away. Deciding to take this opportunity to see what the new creature was made of, she incanted, _"_ _ **Confringo!**_ _"_ to send an explosive blasting curse into the back of its head.

She wasn't entirely surprised when the spell splashed against the creature's skin without any visible effect. _I guess it was too much to hope that he'd be as easy to take down as the drones_ , Iris lamented. _I've always assumed that most direct damage spells would have no effect on the Hulk, and if this beast has any sort of similar origin, it makes sense that it would have the same resistances._

Iris' attack may not have had an effect, but it did not go unnoticed. Emil Blonsky, who had now begun thinking of himself as an "Abomination" based on something Sterns had said, felt the warm impact of the spell and turned around. After a few moments of looking around, he spotted Iris standing on the edge of the roof, looking down with one hand on her hip. Since the Hulk was his target, he didn't want to waste time going after her, so he grabbed a piece of rubble and threw it hard at her, turning immediately to head in the direction he'd kicked his opponent.

Had he been paying attention, he might have heard her whisper _Depulso_ and seen the piece of rubble go flying off in another direction. He might have heard a soft pop which accompanied her disappearing, then another as she reappeared on the ground nearby. He might have even seen her pull out a small stick and incant, _"_ _ **Sphaera Ignea!**_ _"_

He did none of these things, however, so he was caught completely by surprise when the massive fireball hit him from behind.

Confused and angry at his suddenly scorched skin, but otherwise unharmed, he turned around and saw the woman again, this time standing on the ground instead of the roof and looking completely uninjured herself.

"Who or what are you?" he growled.

"Welcoming committee," Iris quipped. "I'd have brought a cake, but you threw a car into the local bakery back there. Your loss — I hear they were quite good." Iris' anger from earlier hadn't entirely dissipated, and now it was starting to grow again, giving her energy and masking how tired she was. "What the hell are **you**?" she asked.

The creature made what sounded like a deep laugh and said, "I'd give you my name, but I don't think it applies to me anymore. The doctor said I'd become an abomination, and I guess that's what I am, but I can't say I mind much."

"Abomination, huh?" Iris asked, raising one eyebrow.

"It's as good as any other title, and I'm about to be your worst nightmare."

Iris snorted at that. "You're nothing impressive compared to what I faced even when I was a teenager. I've had indigestion more troublesome than you." This seemed to annoy the beast as it snarled and leapt at her. Despite its impressive speed, especially for something so large, Iris still had time to apparate to another location, causing the beast to crash into the ground where she had been a moment before.

 _Let's try one last direct damage spell_ , Iris thought to herself. _Maybe something that concentrates a lot of power in a small area will have more effect_.

Focusing herself to ensure that she could bring as much power to bear as possible, Iris incanted, _"_ _ **Perforo!**_ _"_ sending a powerful perforation curse at the back of the Abomination as it was climbing back to its feet. Suddenly, though, the Hulk came flying out of the building it had been kicked into earlier, landing on the back of the Abomination and driving him down into the pavement. This caused Iris' curse to hit the Hulk instead. Striking his back at an angle, it created a deep gouge in his skin, and the green beast to let loose a cry of pain and fury.

 _The good news_ , Iris thought as her eyes widened and the furious Hulk's head whipped around to face her, _is that direct spells_ _ **can**_ _hurt the Hulk. The bad news: I wasn't fighting the Hulk before..._

"I don't suppose it would help to say I'm sorry, and that I was aiming for the other guy?" Iris asked hopefully. "Uh, Dr. Banner?"

If the deep growl didn't make it clear that the Hulk wasn't in a forgiving mood, the large piece of metal he ripped off a car and threw at her definitely did the trick. She could have apparated away in time, but the hope that Banner might forgive the error slowed her reactions, and he clipped her before she could get out of the way.

When she reappeared on the roof of a nearby building, she was bleeding from her face and her eyes were glowing in anger. _If he doesn't want to be forgiving_ , she decided, _then I don't need to be either. Let's see how he deals with someone else's anger issues for once._

The few moments of focusing on Iris meant that the Hulk was caught by surprise when the Abomination turned, grabbed his head, and swung him into a building on the other side of the street. With the beast's attention still away from her, Iris started working on more creative alternatives to taking the Abomination down. _Come to think of it_ , she considered, _I might not have to do the heavy lifting myself. Maybe I need to keep him from presenting too much of a challenge to the Hulk and let Banner's alter ego do all the work. Then, when the Hulk gets tired, I'll teach_ _ **him**_ _how to bleed as well._

Feeling rather pleased with herself, she used her wand to start transfiguring some of the rubble into a thick nest of Devil's Snare. Before the Abomination could press his newest attack against the Hulk, who was stumbling as he tried to get up, the Devil's Snare had wrapped itself around his legs and was moving up, tightening as it went along.

"What is this?!" shouted the Abomination as it realized that it was held fast by the odd plants that had appeared out of nowhere at his feet. He started ripping at the vines, but their magical nature made them much stronger than normal vines, and it took him a lot longer than he had expected. This gave the Hulk sufficient time to recover. Looking around, he spotted the remains of a car which he picked up and slammed down on the Abomination's head. Repeatedly.

Nearby, Iris considered her next move and decided to continue with what was working. She pushed more magic into the Devil's Snare, causing it to grow thicker, stronger, and bigger. While the two monsters started pounding away on each other with their fists, Iris' magical vines were attacking their feet, preventing either of them from going anywhere. _If they're stuck there_ , Iris thought with a smile, _they'll have trouble harming anyone else. They can concentrate on one another and wear each other out._

When the Abomination managed to seriously hurt the Hulk by piercing him with one of his spikes, Iris shook her head and said softly, "Oh, no you don't." Not thinking much about it, she incanted, _"_ _ **Discerpo!**_ _"_ and sent a dark cutting curse into the back of the Abomination. Whether it was the darker nature of the curse or the increasingly darker nature of Iris' current emotions, this spell penetrated the creature's resistant skin, creating a nasty gash and cutting off several of the spikes along his spine.

The bestial howl that the Abomination let out echoed for blocks in every direction. The Hulk wasted no time in taking advantage of the distraction, grabbing the Abomination's hands, pulling them from around his throat, and head butting him repeatedly. The sight of the Abomination's blood caused Iris to start grinning and thinking of what other dark spells she might be able to use against the two beasts.

 _Oh yes_ , she thought, _I'll teach you_ _ **both**_ _to bleed._

Throwing caution to the wind, she apparated back down to the street and prepared to cast spells that required her to be a bit closer. That was fine with her, though, because she was starting to look forward to showing the animals who was in charge.

* * *

"What is going on down there?" General Ross demanded. "Does anyone recognize that woman?" He had been watching the fight from the beginning and was hoping that the Hulk could stop that other creature, which he assumed must have been Blonsky at some point. He did not, however, entirely understand what he was seeing now. Somehow that woman had been doing things to both of the creatures, and he couldn't understand how.

A block away, Agent Coulson was also watching the fight, and he did recognize the woman. What was more, he also had an idea of what might be happening, and he didn't like it. He suspected Iris was starting to lose control, at least based on the glowing eyes he could see through his binoculars. Hitting speed dial on his phone, he called Nick Fury to report in.

* * *

 **Above Manhattan, New York City. 7:35 PM.**

Tony and Rhodey were approaching the hospital emergency entrance with their injured friends when a call came in on Tony's private line. "Sir, I have an incoming call, but I can't trace its origin," JARVIS said.

"OK, put it through, but keep working on a trace," Tony instructed the AI. "Who is this?" Tony asked when the connection was made. "Only a couple of people have this number."

"And I happen to be one of them," Nick Fury's voice said.

"Fury? Why are you calling me?" Tony asked. Because his external speaker was still active, Hermione heard Tony's end of the conversation and took notice when she caught the name of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s director.

"Something's happening in Harlem. At first it was one rampaging beast, but then the Hulk was unleashed by General Ross to stop it, and the two of them started causing massive destruction as they fought. I called in Iris to try to..."

"Iris?" Tony interrupted. "She should be too exhausted to do anything after fighting at the expo!" Now Hermione started paying close attention.

"She was involved in that?" Fury asked, clearly unhappy at this news. "I had no idea. I haven't read any reports yet and she didn't say. She simply accepted the assignment and went in to stop them."

"What happened to her?" Tony asked as he and Rhodey landed on the hospital roof, near the helicopter landing pad.

"I have Agent Coulson observing, and he's worried that she's losing control," Fury answered. "Do you know where Hermione is? I can't locate her."

"She's with me," Tony said. "She's been severely injured, and I'm walking her into the hospital now."

"What is it?" Hermione asked insistently, now anxious at what little she was getting from the conversation.

"Can the hospital wait?" Fury asked. "We need to have someone around to settle her down if she is losing control."

Tony looked down at Hermione's pleading face. She needed medical attention, and he was loathe to take her away from it, especially now that they had arrived at the hospital and doctors were approaching. On the other hand, Fury might be right that this woman was the only one who could talk Iris down — and Tony had first-hand experience of what Iris was like when she wasn't thinking straight. It had been sheer luck that he hadn't had to fight her that last time, and he shuddered at the thought of what might happen now.

"Give me a minute, Fury," Tony said and told Jarvis to put that line on mute. He then opened his faceplate so he could look Hermione in the eyes. "Hermione, Iris accepted another assignment from Fury. She's in Harlem trying to stop the Hulk and some other creature who are fighting each other."

"Is she hurt?" Hermione asked while trying to bite back the pain from her hand. The numbing charm hadn't lasted nearly as long as she'd expected.

"Fury is worried that Iris might be losing control. Between the fight at the expo, you getting hurt, and now this, she might be on the ragged edge, and there is no one around to talk her down. No one except you, that is, but we would need to leave right now."

Still in Tony's arms, Hermione struggled to twist a bit so she could pull her wand out of its holster, then cast another strong numbing charm on her hand. "Let's do it," she said, putting her wand away and nodding up at Tony.

"You sure?" he asked. "It might be a bit before we can get you looked at by the doctors."

"I'm sure," Hermione said without hesitation. "Iris needs me. Now let's get moving."

"Fury?" Tony said, going back to his call. "We're heading out."

"Thanks," Fury replied and cut the connection.

Rhodey and Happy were standing close enough to hear what was going on, and Rhodey asked, "Do you need backup?"

Tony thought for a moment, then said, "Sure, I can always use someone watching my back."

"If Agent Potter needs to be stopped," JARVIS pointed out, "it will take more than the two of you."

"I know, but it can't hurt," Tony said as he launched himself up into the sky, heading for Harlem.

* * *

 **Harlem, New York City. 7:38 PM.**

Iris looked at the two beasts in front of her, each gripping the other's arms and butting heads because those were the only weapons they had left. _Animals_ , she thought contemptuously. _Is fighting all they know to do? Time to put an end to this._

With a flick of her wrist, her wand shot into her hand and quickly cast the spell _Corace Corruo_. Created in the middle ages, the siege engine spell was designed to take down the massive stone walls of castles, assuming one was sufficiently skilled to get close enough to use it. Iris was definitely close enough, and despite her rapidly diminishing magical reserves, she had enough power to cast a spell such as this.

Neither the Hulk nor the Abomination had any warning — not that it would have done them any good. Together they and a ton of concrete, dirt, and metal were propelled down the street, taking out the front portions of buildings on both sides while gathering more and more rubble as they went. The spell finally ran out of power after two blocks, filling a large intersection with a massive pile of broken concrete, bricks, and pieces of cars.

It was fortunate that all the people who had been in the street earlier had already fled: Iris hadn't paid any attention to who might or might not have been on the other side of her targets.

She took her time as she stalked towards the intersection, not noticing how often she stumbled. Her prey wasn't going anywhere, and she had all the time in the world to finish them off.

On the edge of the roof of a nearby building, a familiar raven flapped its wings and cawed in agitation. This witch's magic was intoxicating and powerful, but her lack of control was... distressing, to say the least.

"Holy shit!" whispered General Ross while his daughter cried out "Bruce!"

"Soldier," Ross said, turning to one of the men who had accompanied him on the transport helicopter, "tell me you're getting video and photos of that woman!"

"Yes, sir," the corporal responded. "We're also recording thermal data."

"Excellent," Ross said, his expression now one of eagerness. _This is worlds better than the Super Soldier serum!_ he thought greedily. _If I can figure out how to replicate power like that, American forces will be unstoppable!_

Betty Ross was leaning halfway out of the helicopter, desperate for any sign of life from the pile of rubble in the intersection. She hadn't wanted Bruce to jump into this fight in the first place, and that was when it had just been against that huge beast. Now it was a three-way battle, and while she wouldn't have credited that woman with any sort of chance at first, she was worried that the woman wasn't going to stop until the other two were dead.

* * *

Agent Coulson was carefully making his way along the shadows and hit speed dial on his phone again. "What is it, Coulson," came Fury's voice, clearly expecting a call like this.

"Sir, two blocks of Harlem got pulverized in about five seconds," Coulson reported.

"Iris?" Fury asked in a weary voice.

"Yes, sir," Coulson said. "The Hulk and that other creature look to be buried under a couple of tons of rubble. They took the brunt of her spell — the two blocks that got pulverized was simply collateral damage. I have no idea what their condition now is, or even if they're alive."

"And what's her condition?"

"Bleeding from the head," Coulson reported, "and moving somewhat slowly. Stumbling a little, too, like someone who's tired or maybe a bit intoxicated."

"Civilian casualties?"

"Unknown, but it looked like the area had been evacuated."

"Thank God for small favors," Fury said. "Stark and Granger are on their way now. Be prepared to assist if they need it, but otherwise continue observing."

"One more thing, sir," Coulson said. "I have a Ch-53 Sea Stallion hovering close overhead. I expect that it's General Ross, which means that he's seen Iris in action."

"Oh, this just keeps getting better and better," Fury said grimly. "Well, there's nothing we can do about that now, and it's not like he'll be able to find out anything about her. Let's hope he doesn't do anything stupid, like attracting her ire."

"Yes, sir," Coulson responded, "but I won't hold my breath on that."

Fury snorted. Just before cutting the connection, he added, "Watch for an emergency evac message."

"You sure, sir?" Coulson asked with surprise, breaking the careful neutrality he'd maintained throughout the conversation.

"Not really," Fury admitted, "but we may not have a choice."

Coulson hesitated a moment, but quickly continued to make his way along the street, sticking to the shadows while trying to watch what was happening. He hated being forced into such passive roles, but he also knew that an experienced, objective witness was sometimes critical for incidents like this. He just hoped it wouldn't come to the point where he was forced to run.

* * *

Fury picked up his phone again and issued orders to the flight commander of the helicarrier. Within five minutes, three squadrons of air-to-ground attack fighters were launching and forming up for attack runs. That portion of Harlem was already a loss, and if Granger couldn't talk Potter down, they might not get another chance to stop her.

She was injured, physically tired, and probably approaching magical exhaustion. If she could be distracted enough for the first fighters to get in a solid hit, the rest of the three squadrons might be enough to put her down.

Fury tiredly rubbed his face and thought hard about getting a drink, something he never did before a mission was over. It was his fault that Iris was in the middle of that fight. It was his fault that she'd been pushed so far and so hard into using more magic. He'd had to send agents into dangerous missions before, and he'd lost quite a few, but this was hitting him harder than most.

Never before had Nick Fury been forced to issue orders to deliberately kill one of his own agents who was becoming a threat because of decisions he himself had made. That the agent in question was a young woman he'd grown somewhat fond of and had high hopes for only made it worse.


	11. Rock Bottom

**Recommendation** : Story recommendation for this chapter is "Heroes Never Die" by John Wolfe. HP/Stargate crossover. I can't think of a single thing I can write that doesn't give this fantastic story away. The best I can do is: Janet Fraiser isn't who you think she is. Janet/Sam; H/Hr. Not complete, but still gets occasional updates. If you like it, please leave a review and let the author know!

* * *

 **Chapter 11 - Rock Bottom**

 **Harlem, New York City. August 29, 2009, 7:42 PM.**

As Iris Potter approached the massive pile of rubble, pieces started shifting and rolling off as something large started moving around inside. "Good," Iris said softly, "we can have a little more fun." A single grey hand shot out and began to pull away debris, and Iris incanted, _"Ossus Diffringo."_ When the bone shattering curse struck the hand, she was rewarded with a muffled scream from the hand's owner.

The skin of the Abomination was resistant enough to prevent the bones in his hand from shattering, but the spell was strong and dark enough for them to crack and twist, causing him a significant amount of unexpected pain and preventing him from using that hand to pull himself out from under all the rubble. Iris smirked and turned her attention to where the Hulk appeared to be trying to extricate himself as well.

Suddenly the rubble around the Abomination exploded outward, showering Iris with tiny pieces of stone and metal, cutting her all over her face. When she could see again, the creature was standing atop the rubble, breathing heavily and looking down on Iris with absolute fury. "I will destroy you!" he bellowed, not noticing that the Hulk was finally out, too. Since the Abomination was the closest target, that's who the Hulk went after, tackling him and causing them both to roll down the pile towards Iris.

She nimbly jumped away and sneered as they rolled around on the ground, trading punches in their primitive attempts to assert dominance over each other. When they finally stopped rolling, the Abomination was straddling the Hulk and trying to pound on him, though he was frustrated by the Hulk's ability to block the punches.

"You know," Iris said, "you both rather remind me of trolls — big, dumb, and ugly. Fortunately I happen to know of a good method for dealing with trolls." With a flourish, she incanted, _"Wingardium Leviosa!"_ and a massive piece of roadway, about the size of a garbage truck, slowly lifted off of the pile in the intersection and moved sideways until it hovered around twenty meters above the two combattants. _It's LeviOHsa, not LeviohSA_ , she thought with a snigger. _Good pronunciation is_ _ **so**_ _important._

"Oh, boys!" Iris called out cheerfully. When the two beasts stopped and turned to look at her, curiosity and confusion on their faces, she simply smiled and waggled her fingers at them in a mocking wave as she cancelled the spell. The Abomination was the first to sense the danger and craned his neck so he could look up at what appeared to be a small planetoid rushing straight towards him. He had no time to move, and because of his position, the Abomination took the brunt of the impact in the face.

This was not something he was going to bounce back quickly from.

Ironically, Iris Potter wasn't doing much better. When she cancelled the spell and cut the pull on her magic, she collapsed on the street in exhaustion. That didn't bother her, though, because she was laughing so hard. "Oh, Merlin," she said when she caught her breath again. "The classics are always the best!" She tried to stand but couldn't, and fell back to the ground in surprise. _Uh-oh_ , she thought, then started to giggle as a wave of giddiness washed over her.

* * *

While Iris was laughing, the Hulk was pulling himself out from beneath yet another pile of rubble. The Abomination had inadvertently protected him, so he was in relatively good shape. The Abomination, in contrast, was unconscious and would have to be dug out before anyone would know the extent of his injuries.

Deciding that the Abomination wasn't a threat anymore, the Hulk looked in the direction of the laughter and recognized the second enemy that had attacked him. He had heard the word "sorry" when she first hurt him, but he had never much cared for apologies. Now that the monster was down, he could focus again on this puny woman who had found a way to hurt him. His back still burned where she'd done something.

As he approached her and looked down on her frail, cackling form, he wondered how she had ever been a threat. He stooped and plucked her up with one hand around her throat, lifting her so he could look her in the eyes. She tried in vain to pull his fingers apart and started to gasp for breath. He could recognize weariness in those eyes, but they were also glowing slightly, displaying her power. He shook her a few times, and her slack limbs flopped about despite the fact that she was awake and growing desperate for air. _Still a threat_ , he thought and made the decision to eliminate her while he could.

He lifted his hand above his head and prepared to smash her limp, unresisting body into the ground when he heard a voice cry out from behind him: "Bruce!"

* * *

General Ross had the helicopter land in the ruined street behind the combattants in the hope that he could capture whomever was left alive and take the bodies of whomever lost. With the woman looking tired and wounded, he thought he was about to hit the jackpot until he realized that the Hulk was preparing to kill her. It went against his better judgment to encourage his daughter in this, but he needed that woman alive, and if Betty could stop the Hulk, then he'd happily use her.

Turning around he stepped into the helicopter, grabbed his daughter, and roughly dragged her out.

"General!" she cried. "What are you doing!"

"Your boyfriend is about to kill that woman," Ross responded harshly. "Can you stop him?"

"Bruce wouldn't kill anyone!"

"Look at them!" he shouted, and when she looked she could see the Hulk shaking the woman by the throat. Then she understood the danger.

"BRUCE!" she screamed, and just in time as the Hulk had lifted the woman's body into the air, ready to smash her into the ground.

When he stopped and turned to look at her, she continued, "Stop! Please, don't do it! You don't have to do this! Just let her go."

Frowning, he lowered his hand and looked at the gasping woman again. He could still see anger and power there, but with Betty encouraging him, he let her go, and she fell heavily to the ground.

Ignoring the woman now, the Hulk walked slowly over to Betty and reached out to her. Of those on the ground, only the general and an agent in the shadows saw Iris lift herself up on her knees and elbows and pull out her wand.

* * *

Iris was in pain all over her body. It felt like she had been smashed, twisted, stretched, and crushed all at the same time — yet there were hardly any physical injuries anywhere on her. The bleeding from her head and face scarcely counted because they were so superficial. She was also likely going to have horrible bruises around her throat, but since she could finally breathe again, she wasn't going to worry about that. She couldn't understand why she was in such pain, or what she should do about it.

First, though, she had a task to complete. The Abomination was down, but the green Hulk still hadn't learned his lesson. Even worse, he dared to ignore her as if she didn't matter! _I'll teach you not to turn your back on me, you animal_ , she thought as she pushed herself up on her elbows and pulled out her wand. _Animals need to be properly disciplined, otherwise they won't behave and eventually have to be put down. So I'm doing him a favor, really._

"I'll have you know," she said softly, "that I really, _really_ mean this." Without even bothering with a wand movement, she lifted her right arm and incanted, _"_ _ **Cru—**_ _"_

" **Iris!** "

* * *

While General Ross' helicopter was landing in the ruined Harlem street, Tony was approaching from the air with Hermione in his arms and Rhodey close behind.

"Sir," came JARVIS' voice, "I've turned off your external speaker so we can talk privately. I'm reading some unusual radio traffic from about fifty miles away."

"What's so unusual about it that I need to know?" Tony asked, more concerned with finding Iris.

"It's heavily encrypted using an algorithm that I haven't seen before, but which looks much like what I've seen S.H.I.E.L.D. use."

"Oh?" Tony asked, his interest now caught.

"Based on data I've been able to extract from local civilian and military airport radar," JARVIS continued, "I've been able to extrapolate the presence of a number of stealth aircraft, about fighter sized. Perhaps two squadrons worth."

"Uh-oh," Tony said, now getting more worried by the second. "What are you up to, Fury?"

"I can't be sure what their intentions are because I've only been able to decode bits and pieces of the radio traffic," JARVIS continued, "but my analysis suggests that they are lining up for an air strike somewhere in this general vicinity."

"Why am I not surprised?" Tony asked with a sigh. "Fury's probably preparing to eliminate his problem here if it turns out we can't deal with it."

"Should we inform Miss Granger?"

"No, that would stress her out more. It's Iris, so she already has all the incentive she'll ever need. But maybe we should bring Rhodey in on this."

"Then it was wise that you asked him to accompany us, sir."

"Of course it was. It was my idea."

Once a secure communications link was established, Tony told Rhodey about Jarvis' discovery. "Can you keep an eye on those signals for us?" Tony asked at the end. "You know more about procedures and tactics of military aircraft, so you might be able to interpret their movements better than I would."

"You got it," Rhodey responded. "As soon as I see any threatening moves, I'll let you know." He then broke off and headed higher into the sky so he could better keep an eye out for possible threats from that direction.

Tony landed on a roof as a woman was pulled from the helicopter; a moment later she screamed "BRUCE!" at the Hulk.

"Interesting," Tony said as he watched the almost immediate change in the Hulk's demeanor when the woman approached him.

Hermione's attention was entirely on Iris. Her heart nearly stopped when she saw how limp Iris' body was when the Hulk dropped her to the ground, but she felt a flash of relief when she saw Iris moving on her own and even trying to get back up. That relief turned to horror, however, when she saw the wand pulled and the color of the spell that started glowing at its tip.

Before she could finish her incantation, Hermione screamed as loud as she could, " **Iris!** " and then immediately apparated down to the street, right next to the woman she never expected to try casting an unforgivable again.

* * *

Her concentration broken and her incantation interrupted, Iris wasn't able to cast her spell at the back of that animal. Grimacing in anger and pain, she turned her head to find out who had dared interfere and was confronted with someone wearing a scaled bodysuit like her own. Gloved hands turned her unresisting body over onto her back and there was a grunt of pain when it happened, though strangely it wasn't from her, despite how much everything on her body hurt.

Blinking, she tried to focus on whoever this was, but only after she had broken through the haze of pain did she recognize that it was Hermione. With her teeth, Hermione removed her glove, freeing her right hand so she could use it to stroke Iris' face. "Oh, Iris. Dear, sweet Iris," she said softly. "What happened to you? What were you doing here? You should have been resting! What am I supposed to do now? How am I supposed to help you when you do things like this?"

The glow slowly faded from Iris' eyes as she concentrated on Hermione's voice and face. "Hermione?" she asked slowly. "I... I... I don't feel so good..." She then went completely limp as she lost consciousness. Resting her forehead against Iris', Hermione held her tightly while trying to figure out what to do next.

Tony saw that the situation with Iris was probably under control, but he quickly realized that they were being approached by a general who was leading group of armed soldiers. He doubted that they wanted to help, and knew that neither witch was in any position to defend themselves. Deciding that he needed to intervene now, he lifted off the roof and dropped heavily in front of the general and his men. Tony was always able to land gently — he only landed with a loud thud (and maybe a bit of asphalt damage) when he wanted to make an impression.

"General?" Tony said in as friendly a voice as he could muster. "Do you need something?" He lifted his faceplate in the hope that it would make him seem a little less threatening.

"Not from you," Ross said dismissively. "So step aside, son."

"Not if you have any hostile intentions towards those two women," Tony said. He idly noticed that behind the general, the Hulk picked up the woman who had been talking to him and quickly left the area. He didn't care, though — it wasn't any of his business. _If big and green was how she gets her thrills, more power to her. It's not like I have any moral high ground to stand on._

"This is a military operation, Mr. Stark," Ross said sternly. "You have no authority to interfere with our actions."

"And you have no authority over civilians inside the borders of the United States, General," Tony pointed out. "Even if either of them is charged with a crime, that would be a matter for local, state, or federal authorities. Not the military."

"Dammit, man!" the general shouted, "You didn't see what she can do! I need her!" The men behind the general started fingering their weapons nervously, unsure about what was going to happen and not pleased with the prospect of having to face off against Iron Man.

Rhodey suddenly dropped down next to Tony and opened his own faceplate. "Those signals?" he said. "They started moving away about ten seconds ago. Someone must have called them off."

"That would be me," came a voice from the shadows.

"Agent Coulson!" Tony said as the figure stepped out into the light. "I was wondering if you were skulking around here."

"I don't skulk," Coulson said, sounding more amused than offended. "I'm simply very, very quiet."

"You're a military officer," Ross said quickly, pointing at Rhodey. "I order you to take that woman into custody."

"Sorry, I'm an Air Force officer, and you're in the Army, General," Rhodey replied. "You're not in my direct chain of command and can't give me orders that are either outside the scope of your authority or that would interfere with the orders I'm currently under — and that's assuming that your order is even legal, which it isn't."

"Of course it's legal!" the general shouted. "This is a military matter and—"

"No, General," Coulson interrupted, "I'm afraid this is now a S.H.I.E.L.D. matter. You've overstepped your authority yet again, and it won't be allowed to continue."

General Ross scowled at Coulson for a long moment before turning around and stalking back to the helicopter. "This isn't over," he called back.

"I'm sure you think it isn't," Coulson responded. "Expect a call from the President."

Once the helicopter was finally taking off, Coulson turned to the two men in armored suits and said, "I think it's time to get these two ladies to a hospital, don't you think?"

Neither Rhodey nor Tony were entirely sure what had just happened, recognizing that there had been a lot more unsaid than said; but they couldn't deny that Hermione and Iris were in desperate need of medical attention. Everything else could wait.

* * *

 **Mount Sinai Hospital, New York City. September 10, 2009, Morning.**

Iris came to consciousness slowly, knowing she was injured. It was an experience she was all too familiar with, and she had long ago developed a system for dealing with both it and with whatever medical center she woke up in.

First she went through a personal inventory. Toes? Movable. Fingers? Also movable. All limbs were still attached and probably working. That left the deep-seated ache she had over her entire body. It felt like every single muscle, every single bone, and every nerve had been pounded flat by bludgers for a week. She supposed that Voldemort's cruciatus curse might have been worse, but it was a close thing.

The next step was to figure out how she got here, wherever here was. _I remember the expo... I remember fighting those drones... Hermione went off on her own and was hurt... I apparated with Pepper back to the apartment. Then what? There was... another incident? Banner! Yes, there was Banner and some other monstrous creature. There was a fight and... oh, sweet Merlin! What did I do?_

"Iris?" she heard a voice say. It sounded distant, but she hadn't quite reached full consciousness yet.

"Iris," came the voice again, a little closer this time. "I know you're awake. I've been in this position too many times not to know when you wake up."

Iris slowly opened her eyes and blinked rapidly against the unexpectedly bright lights. She tried to say something but only ended up croaking.

"Here," came the voice once more, and she found a straw against her lips. Instinctively she took the straw in and sucked, then moaned in pleasure as the cool water hit her mouth and throat. "Mmmmm... thanks," she rasped as the straw was withdrawn. Blinking rapidly again, she looked up and saw Hermione leaning over her, her bushy hair almost glowing with the nimbus of bright lights behind her head.

"Hermione?" she asked, still having trouble with her voice.

"Who else?" the brown-eyed witch asked. "Even in our dorms, I could tell when you were asleep and when you were awake. That's how well I knew your breathing patterns."

"Where?"

"Mount Sinai Hospital, in Manhattan," Hermione responded.

"How long?" Iris asked next, her voice gradually getting stronger.

"It's been almost two weeks since you passed out after the fight," Hermione said as she sat down in a chair next to Iris' bed. "You'll be here for a few more days yet, too."

"Damage?"

"Well...," Hermione said hesitantly. "You... kind of broke Harlem."

"Urk?" Iris croaked out as her eyes widened in shock.

"Well, you didn't do it alone, so there's that," Hermione said, as if that made it all OK. "You by yourself seem to have turned a couple of city blocks into rubble." When Iris moaned, Hermione quickly added, "But it was all in bad shape already from the Hulk and that other creature fighting, and it all would have had to be torn down anyway. So you see, you did them a favor. Sort of."

Iris looked up at her with a skeptical expression on her face. Hermione merely shrugged as if to say, "That's my story and I'm sticking to it."

Iris steeled herself for the next part. "What did I..." she trailed off, then tried again. "Did I... I mean, did anyone..."

"No," Hermione said gently as she put a hand on Iris'. "As far as we can tell, nothing you did killed anyone. Some were probably hurt, and you definitely _could_ have killed someone, but you didn't." She scooted a little closer to the bed and reached out with her hand to turn Iris' head to face her. "What happened out there, Iris? What got into you?"

"I don't know," Iris said softly. "I can remember it all, mostly at least, but it's like I'm watching someone else doing things. I remember feeling powerful. I remember feeling strong. I remember... I remember that I wanted more than anything to use that power — I didn't much care how or where. I wanted to dominate. I... I saw them as little more than animals that needed to be disciplined." Iris wanted to look away, embarrassed and ashamed of what she had done and how many lives she must have put at risk.

"Well, it's clear that your problem with control is a lot more serious than I realized," Hermione said, regretting that she hadn't recognized the extent of the problem sooner. "Though I suppose part of the problem was how so much was pushed on you in one day. There was the massive fight at the expo, then I got hurt, then Fury had the gall to send you out again..." She stopped when she saw Iris shaking her head. "What?" she asked.

"I started losing it back at the expo," Iris said. Hermione's eyebrows rose in surprise at hearing that. "It was when you ran off to go after Vanko. I just... I couldn't handle it. I started lashing out at the drones because I knew Vanko was controlling them. It felt like the only way to lash out at him because I was so afraid he would hurt you."

Hermione shook her head and said, "That's something else we're going to have to talk about: your over-protectiveness. I swear, you're worse than my father." Iris started to reply, but Hermione interrupted her. "No, we'll save that discussion for later. Right now we have more pressing matters to deal with.

Hermione took a deep breath, then said, "I think it's time I joined S.H.I.E.L.D." When Iris' eyes widened, she continued, "I know we've talked about this, and I wasn't prepared to do it before. But Tony doesn't need me to find a cure for him anymore while you do need me — a lot. And I've seen that there are other things out there — other threats and dangers — that an organization like S.H.I.E.L.D. is needed for. I think I can help, both directly through my own skills and indirectly by helping you."

"Are you sure about leaving Stark Industries, though?" Iris asked. "I know you like your work there."

Hermione nodded. "Yes, I'm sure. I like Stark Industries, but I think I'll like S.H.I.E.L.D., too. I'll still get to do some of the same things, but I'll get to do even more." Then she smiled in a predatory fashion. "I'll also get to be your boss, too."

Iris groaned and try to pull the cover over her head, but Hermione wouldn't let her. "Now, now," she said. "I promise to be a good boss. I promise not to punish you _too_ often." She said the last with a grin as she moved her hand to push some hair behind her ear.

It was the same hand that Vanko had crushed, and it still had heavy bandages on it. Iris saw them and cried out as she grabbed Hermione's wrist. "What happened?"

"Oh," Hermione said, sounding a little embarrassed. "That was from Vanko." Before Iris could say anything about that, Hermione continued, "It was pretty bad, but I was able to fix it up. While Tony brought you here, I had Rhodey fly me to Tony's apartment. I keep a supply of basic potions there, just in case, and I took some Skelegrow and a couple of other healing potions before Pepper drove me over here. It was healed the next day, and the X-rays all look good; but since it's my hand I've been extra cautious and using bandages to cushion and immobilize it for a couple of weeks. I'll probably take them off tomorrow to see how it feels. It's been inconvenient, but I don't want to take any unnecessary chances."

"Unnecessary chances?!" Iris choked out, "You want to talk about unnecessary chances, let's talk about you trying to take on Vanko all by yourself!"

Iris was prevented from continuing her rant by Tony and Pepper coming through the door. "Hello, hello!" Tony said. "Look who's awake today! Boy, this looks familiar. Eerily familiar, in fact. Say, aren't you two in the wrong positions?"

While Pepper rolled her eyes, Hermione responded, "Actually, these **are** our normal positions. I'm usually the one sitting by the bed worrying while she's the one in the bed, unconscious or injured."

"Hey!" Iris complained while Tony and Pepper laughed.

"Don't let her tell you otherwise," Hermione continued, "In our school's hospital wing, the healer put a plaque above one bed, designating it as the Iris Potter Hospital Bed. It's probably still there, too."

"Here you go," Tony said as he approached the bed, "I remembered the flowers this time."

" **We** remembered the flowers," Pepper corrected as she joined him.

"Well, yeah, it was a team effort," Tony admitted under Pepper's withering glare.

Hermione grinned at their antics. _This is what Iris needs at the moment_ , she thought. _A slice of normality and friends. We'll deal with the heavier issues later._

"How are you feeling?" Pepper asked with genuine concern. She was, in fact, the first to ask that question.

"Ugh," Iris responded, "I hurt all over. Like everything has been stretched, folded, spindled, and mutilated."

"That's the magical exhaustion," Hermione said. "It's probably worse for you than for most witches and wizards because of your unusual magical core. Actually, it's not so much magical exhaustion but the fact that you pushed yourself **beyond** magical exhaustion. It's like working a muscle well past the failure point. You've hurt yourself badly, and it'll take more than two weeks for you to heal."

"How long will she be like this?" Tony asked.

Hermione shrugged and said, "Because she's unusual, it's hard to say. Most magicals probably would have died from pushing themselves as far as she did, so she's already way ahead at this point. The pain might last for another week at least. She shouldn't use any magic for another month, maybe longer."

"No magic at all?" Iris whinged.

"Nope," Hermione said firmly. "That's what you get for pushing yourself so far."

"Look on the bright side," Tony said with a smile, "you get to be taken care of by a gorgeous nursemaid." The last was said while he gestured in Hermione's direction.

Hermione huffed. "If you think I'm going to nurse Iris back to health..." She trailed off as she looked in Iris' direction and was hit by the full force of her puppy-dog eyes. "...You'd probably be right," she finished with a heavy sigh.

"Don't get any funny ideas, buster, the next time one of your crazy stunts goes wrong," Pepper said with a glare in Tony's direction. "I'm immune."

* * *

 **Mount Sinai Hospital, New York City. September 12, 2009.**

One evening, after everyone had left and Iris was drifting in and out of sleep, she received yet another visitor. Despite her inconsistent state of consciousness, she was still able to recognize the sound of his footsteps as he approached her door.

"Agent Coulson," she said in greeting without opening her eyes. Her tone was friendly, a sharp contrast to the coldness with which she had greeted him the last time he came to her in a hospital room.

"Agent Potter," the man returned as he walked up to her bed.

He stood there in silence for a long moment, then she finally opened her eyes and looked at him.

"You've looked better," he said.

"I've felt better," she replied.

"You've also looked worse," he added.

"Oh?" she asked, wondering when she could possibly have looked worse than she did just then. She hadn't been this bad even after Budapest, not that she'd ever admit that to Clint.

"Yes, when you were fighting in the street a couple of weeks ago," he replied. She frowned, trying to discern his meaning and wondering if the pain killers she'd been given were interfering with her brain more than she'd realized. "You lost control, and from what I saw it seemed like you were enjoying what you were doing. You weren't doing a job anymore, you were having fun. The look on your face then? That was much, much worse than how you look now. I didn't know that woman, and I didn't want to. She was someone I thought I might have to fight."

Iris wanted to sink through the floor as she absorbed Coulson's words.

Coulson took a deep breath and sighed, clearly struggling with something he'd kept bottled up for a while. "To be perfectly honest, I'm still trying to figure out if I know this woman, either. She's not the same as the Natasha Romanoff I trained and later worked with. You look like her and you sound like her, but you're not her. The Nat I knew wouldn't have lost control, I'm sure of it. She wouldn't have risked civilian casualties except in the most extreme circumstances. She wouldn't have taken pleasure in hurting others, even opponents like the Hulk and Blonsky."

Iris closed her eyes and grimaced at the rebuke, knowing that Coulson was right and unable to offer much by way of a defense. "You're right, unfortunately," she finally said. "The Nat you knew didn't perform the sort of magic that can destroy entire city blocks with a flick of her wrist. The Nat you knew kept that knowledge and power buried deep inside, where it wouldn't hurt anyone."

Coulson nodded, as if he'd expected to hear something like that. "It sounds as though the Nat I knew didn't exist, then," he said. "It sounds like she was a mask, designed to keep others at arm's length and prevent them from getting to know who she was so that she didn't have to risk what they thought about the real woman underneath."

Iris opened her eyes in surprise, then whispered, "Yeah, she was."

"Well, I guess we'll have to start fresh, then, so I can get to know this person." He held out his hand and continued, "Hi, I'm Phil Coulson, a special agent with S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Hi," Iris choked out as she took his hand. "I'm Iris Potter. I'm a witch and also a special agent with S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Nice to meet you," Coulson returned as he sat down. "Do you know when you're going to get debriefed?" he asked.

"No," Iris said, "I just woke up a couple of days ago, and you're the first person from S.H.I.E.L.D. to visit."

"Fury was waiting around for a while, hoping you'd wake up sooner," Coulson said, "but he had to leave the country for a few days. Really urgent business, he said. Even I don't know what it was. There are others who want to visit, but they've wanted to give you a chance to wake up and adjust. Clint, for example, has asked about you several times. I'll let people know."

"Oh, gods," Iris said, putting her head in her hands. "What must he and the others think of me now?"

"Nothing different, for the most part," Coulson responded. "Director Fury has classified the details so highly, that only he and those who were there know the full extent of what went on. Others are aware that you were there and were injured, but are under the impression that the Hulk and Blonsky were responsible for all the damage - which is mostly true."

Iris simply looked at him for a couple of moments before saying, "I'm not sure if I should be grateful or not. I mean, to have done all that damage and then hide it from the people I have to work with..."

"He didn't do it for your sake," Coulson said pointedly. "Or at least, not just for your sake. He also doesn't want too many people to know what your full capabilities might be. If you can learn to maintain control, he hopes you'll be able to start using them in a more positive way."

Iris nodded. "I hope so, too."

Coulson was about to say something else when he was interrupted by a beeping from his phone. He only had to look at it for a moment before he sighed and stood back up. "Sorry I have to leave already," he said, "but I just got a message about something that needs to be checked out."

"Anything interesting?" Iris asked.

"Don't know," he answered, "but it's in New Mexico, so how interesting can it be?"

Outside on the window ledge, a raven was tucked in the shadows where she couldn't be seen. Now that the witch's magic wasn't exploding out of control, she again felt more comfortable in the witch's presence — especially when the second witch was nearby. This wasn't quite what her two mentors had promised her, but it might work out after all.

* * *

 **The Porcupine, Charing Cross Road, London. September 13, 2009. 7:50 PM.**

The time they had agreed on for the meeting was 8PM, but Nick Fury had arrived over an hour early. He didn't have a lot of spare time to waste, but this meeting was important, and he couldn't afford to take any chances. He was taking a sip of his third seltzer water when the man he was meeting entered the pub. Fury spotted his two minders immediately: they were dressed well enough, but the way they moved and checked out the pub screamed "security."

The tall, bald, black man looked around the pub slowly, taking in all the faces and sights, before focusing on Fury's table. When the two men caught each other's eyes, they both nodded, and the newcomer strode through the maze of tables to the back corner. Nick stood and shook the other man's hand before they both took their seats.

"Good choice of a place for a meeting," the newcomer said in a rich, accented voice. "Dark interior, mirrors to help you see better around you. I've never been here myself, but I've heard good things about the food."

"Then let's order first," Fury suggested. "We may be here for a while."

"Very well," the other man agreed. Once they had placed their orders and their drinks had arrived, it was time to have a serious conversation.

"So, it's been a long time, Nick Fury," the man said. "What's got you so upset that you had to send a high priority alert to the Ministry?"

"I'm sorry for handling things this way, Minister, but..." Fury was interrupted as the man waved his hand and said, "Please, call me Shacklebolt. Or just Shack. All my friends do."

Fury nodded and continued. "I've got a problem, Shack, and I need some help. Or at least some advice. You remember that witch I talked to you about a few years ago?"

"Yes," Minister Shacklebolt said as he set down his glass and leaned back in his seat. "A powerful witch, if I remember correctly, though one who didn't want to use her magic for some reason and who was staying away from the magical world. You never would tell me her name." Something in his manner suggested that he could guess, though — the list of likely candidates was probably pretty short.

"And I'm not going to tell you now," Fury replied evenly, "But I'm worried that she's becoming a problem, and I need to make contingencies for the future. Unfortunately, my people haven't been able to come up with anything that isn't incredibly destructive, so I'm hoping you can help. Is there anything you can tell me or give me that will let me restrain or otherwise stop a powerful witch who's gone rogue?"

ROLL CREDITS


	12. Epilogue

**A/N** : What, you didn't expect there to be a teaser/epilogue in the middle of the credits? Of course there is, this is Marvel! Well, Marvel-ish. Sorta. Close enough, right?

 **Recommendation** : Story recommendation for this chapter is "A Place Where I Belong" by Corwalch. After realizing how much he has been used and lied to by others, Harry decides he doesn't want to remain in the magical world after he defeats Voldemort. Stargate/HP crossover.

* * *

 **Chapter 12 - Epilogue**

 **Asgard. Time: Irrelevant.**

Loki stepped slowly and cautiously into the mist-filled area. He was on dangerous ground here: entering this place meant taking his life into his hands, and he had debated for weeks about whether to go through with this plan at all. In the end, though, he realized that he needed this: he needed to get some glimpse of the future, to know what was to come.

He had spent too many restless nights and endured too many nightmares about what lay ahead. He needed either reassurance or warning — at this point, either would do. Unfortunately, for all his magical knowledge and prowess, he had always been complete shite at divination. That was why he was seeking out an expert on the subject, someone whose skills were legendary.

He stopped when he heard a noise, but when it didn't come again he continued moving forward. Eventually the mist began to clear, and he found himself approaching a small table. On the other side sat the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. He drank in the sight of her alabaster skin, her red hair that shone like fire, and her hypnotic green eyes. Completely nude except for a few wisps of gauzy fabric that hid absolutely nothing, she was a mesmerizing sight. At that moment he'd have given anything to spend a night with her... no, he'd have given anything just to sit at her feet and bask in the glory of her presence! To receive even a single encouraging word from her would be better than...

Loki shook his head violently, trying to regain a semblance of mental balance. _There must be something in this mist_ , he thought. _I'm more than old enough not to be so affected by a nude woman, no matter how mind-bogglingly gorgeous... no matter how perfectly shaped her breasts..._

Loki shook his head again, this time harder. "I'll not be diverted by your sorcery," Loki said, trying to remain polite. "I will keep my own mind while I am here."

"Oh, Loki Odinson," the woman said with a disappointed sigh. "Why else would you have come to my boudoir" — she began lightly tracing a finger around her breast — "if not to sample what I have to offer?"

Gulping, Loki said, "I do indeed seek what you have to offer." When she gave him a predatory smile and lifted one leg up on the arm of her throne-like chair, he quickly continued, "But it is not the pleasures of the flesh which I seek; rather, it is knowledge."

Her smile did not abate; if anything, it only widened. "Were you not informed that one rarely comes without the other?" When Loki tried to step back, he found that he was rooted to the spot. "Oh, no, Loki Odinson — once you get this far, you must either keep moving forward or remain forever in place. And now that you are here, it is time to bargain. Most who come to me seeking knowledge of the future, be they male or female, are more than happy to trade a bit of time in my bed for that knowledge. And I **always** make it worth their while."

She paused for a moment and looked him up and down as one would a fine cut of meat. "I can be tempted with other payment on occasion," she said, "but I much prefer to tempt **you**. My bed gets oh-so-lonely, and I much desire some company. It's been such a long, long time since I've experienced royal company, too." The last was followed by her licking her lips in obvious anticipation.

Loki nearly wet himself in fear.

He'd been warned about her appetites and desires — warned, and told in no uncertain terms not to give in, not unless he was willing to give up quite a bit of his life's energy and even magic to her. The sex was great — he had been assured of that. Those who bedded her were unanimous in their praise of what it was like. Well, those who bedded her and **survived** were unanimous; but they all returned looking older and somewhat diminished from the experience, the near-constant smile on their faces notwithstanding.

Not all who visited her managed even that, however, and it was whispered that some were simply drained to the point of death.

Loki forced his legs to start moving again and dropped heavily in the chair on the other side of the table that was in front of her. "What else might you be willing to take in payment?" he asked. "I have much that I can offer, given my position."

She removed her leg from the chair's arm and leaned forward against the table, making her breasts even more enticing as they swayed just above the tabletop. Loki swallowed thickly and tried hard to keep looking her straight in the eye, but he wasn't sure that that was an improvement — not with the naked lust he saw there.

"Really? Loki Odinson has something better than himself to offer me? Tell me, then — this I must hear. Freyja is always willing to listen to an interesting offer."

Eventually, after a great deal of haggling, Loki was able to convince Freyja to give him a reading about his future in exchange for a emerald diadem from Jotunheim. It was him telling her that it brought out the beauty of her green eyes that finally convinced her to accept the deal, but the looks she kept giving him after that caused him to consider that perhaps his casual compliment had been a mistake.

Freyja prepared a bowl of bones and began to recite an incantation over it when she suddenly gasped and froze, her eyes rolling back in her head until only the whites could be seen. Loki started to panic, worried about what might have happened to her, and was about to get up and see if he could help when she began speaking in a deep, gravelly voice that didn't sound like it could possibly come from her body.

Beware the approach of the Black Witch.  
Death's Mistress, hunted by Death's Suitor, shadowed by Death's Father,  
The She-Hound of Fate will reunite with the Brave Eagle.  
Weaving together might, magic, and mastery,  
They will forge a path from either love or anger.

To avenge the fallen when titans struggle,  
Or else cast down the gods and rule in their stead.  
Like a serpent they hover with waiting venom,  
And the Nine Realms shall tremble before their wrath.

The son who is not a son must find his blood and decide  
To either be bound by his blood or bound by his choices.  
He will see in her a kindred spirit, equal and opposite;  
Through royal cunning she will be mentored in royal magic.  
And when she finally comes for him, he will know his destiny.

Afterwards, Freyja began to sway slightly in her chair and, with a shake of her head, seemed to come back to herself. She looked around as if she weren't entirely sure where she was, then fixed Loki with a hard stare. "Did I just say something? In an unusual voice, perhaps?"

"Ye-yes, you did," Loki stammered. "I didn't understand what was going on and wanted to help, but I wasn't sure if I should interfere."

"It is well you did not, Loki Odinson," Freyja responded. "It appears that I was chosen to be the vehicle for a great gift for you — an oracle, rather than a simple act of divination. I suppose I sold my time and wisdom to you far too cheaply." Loki's mouth went dry at this, but she waved her hand dismissively as she continued, "Fear not — a deal is a deal, and I will not go back on what we have agreed to." She narrowed her eyes and looked at him lustily before saying, "I will, however, be keeping my eye on you. Not only is your form pleasing to these eyes, but there must be a great fate in store for you, if you were the recipient of an oracle."

Loki blinked a few times in surprise, then said, "Perhaps you can help me understand it. You said—" But he got no further before she interrupted him.

"No, say no more," Freyja commanded. "The vehicle for an oracle is prevented from hearing whatever it is she says, and it is not right that she learn of it after. The words were for your ears alone. It is up to you to understand and apply them. If you cannot," Freyja shrugged expressively, "then I am afraid that you will deserve whatever punishment has been decreed for you by fate."

She leaned forward again, her breasts swaying once more above the tabletop. "I beseech you, though, to heed the words and apply yourself to whatever lesson they are intended to teach. It would be" — she licked her lips slowly — "such a terrible waste if anything untoward were to happen to you."

Loki swallowed hard and stood, suddenly wanting to be somewhere else, anywhere else. As he stumbled back the way he came, he could hear her laughter drifting through the mist. _Damned sorceress_ , he thought bitterly.

* * *

 **Mount Sinai Hospital, New York City. September 16, 2009. 3:41 PM.**

Iris Potter sighed as the wheelchair rolled through the hospital corridor. It had taken much longer for her to be released than she had hoped for, and while she was still stiff, sore, and weak, she was incredibly anxious to get out and back to her life. Or back to something close to her life. Anywhere but the hospital would be welcome at this...

"This is Bushy Witch," came a voice from behind her. "We're prepared to exfoliate! ETA in, uh, a minute or so."

"Oh, sweet Merlin," Iris moaned softly as she buried her head in her hands. She couldn't see Hermione's broad grin, but as she started remembering little things from the past few days, she realized belatedly that every time Hermione had mentioned the weeks she'd be spending nursing Iris back to health, there'd been a quick little smile that flitted across her face. "I am **so** going to regret guilting you into taking care of me, aren't I?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Hermione said in a perfectly sweet and innocent voice — a voice that Iris no longer trusted at all.

Just like the last time they had done this, they exited through the hospital doors and were immediately blinded by the bright sunlight. Once she could see again, Iris noticed that they were heading straight for another one of Tony's cars — one of his insanely expensive and fast cars, as a matter of fact.

"Uh, Hermione?" Iris asked hesitantly. "Can you handle a car like that?"

"It's a car," Hermione said, shrugging. "How hard can it be?"

"You drove it here, right? I mean, you have experience with it?" Iris asked.

"No, Happy dropped it off," Hermione responded. "Tony's letting me borrow it because mine's in the shop. He said it was easy to drive, though."

Iris gulped audibly but allowed herself to be helped into the passenger seat. _Sure_ , she thought nervously, _how hard can it be?_

* * *

Iris wasn't even aware when they finally stopped. Her eyes were open, but she wasn't seeing anything — not after the trip she'd just endured. _Four tickets!_ she mentally shouted. _Four! Two of them along the same block, no less!_

She steadfastly refused to say anything aloud, though, because she had committed herself to trust in Hermione and not engage in anything that might sound like petty bickering. She had made a lot of mistakes in the past and was trying hard to be a better person.

"This, uh, may be a bit more car than I can handle right now..." Hermione said slowly.

"Ya think?!" Iris blurted out, then took a couple of deep breaths before continuing, "Sorry, it's just that that was... well..."

"Yeah, I know," Hermione said. "No matter — we're here now."

"Here?" Iris asked as Hermione got out of the car and came around to help her. "Where's here, exactly?" She didn't _really_ need the help — not much, at any rate — but it was easier with an arm to grab, and it made Hermione feel better.

As she looked around, she noticed the sign of the restaurant that they'd sort of tried to have dinner at a few months earlier. "So, is this why you had me dress nice before you'd let me leave the hospital? And why you were dressed nice as well?"

"Yep," Hermione answered as she pushed the button to lock up the car. "I messed up our dinner here before, so I thought I'd make it up to you by taking you out on a date here to celebrate your release."

"A date, huh?" Iris asked as she raised her eyebrows in curiosity.

"Sure," Hermione said, not quite looking at the auburn-haired witch. "Why not?"

"No flowers?" Iris asked with a mischievous smile.

"Flowers?" Hermione repeated, her brow furrowed in confusion; then her eyes went wide as she remembered their conversation on Tony's plane during the trip back from Monaco. Blushing slightly, she said, "No, no flowers. I'm, uh, honestly not ready for that. Not yet, I mean."

"That's fine, Hermione," Iris responded, suddenly remorseful that her teasing was making Hermione uncomfortable. "I was only jok—"

"Besides," Hermione interrupted quickly, "you're obviously not healthy enough for flowers. We have to get you sorted first — **then** we'll talk about flowers." She opened the door and ushered a stunned Iris inside.

* * *

If asked later, Iris wouldn't have been able to tell anyone the details of what they had talked about during their early dinner date. Nor would she have been able to remember what they ordered or what the food had tasted like. She was far too engrossed in looking at Hermione, enjoying being out of the hospital, and wondering about the possible implications of the words "not yet." _If I ever needed an incentive to get healthy again quickly_ , she concluded, _that will do it._

Somehow Hermione talked her into finally getting in touch with at least a few of their old friends back in Britain, though Iris managed to convince her that it would be best if Iris simply included a short, personal note the next time Hermione wrote to someone. Iris still wasn't comfortable with connecting with her old life, but she knew she couldn't put it off forever — not if she was going to build something with Hermione, who was in regular contact with people there.

All in all it was a romantic dinner — romantic enough that near the end, Iris started feeling brave enough to try nudging things along a little bit. Scooting her chair around the small, intimate table until she was right next to a slightly surprised-looking Hermione, she put her right hand over one of Hermione's on the table and her left around the back of her date's chair.

"This was a lovely idea, Hermione," Iris said softly as she leaned in a little.

"So, does it make up for the last time?"

"Mostly," Iris said, this time a bit softer, forcing Hermione to lean in a little to hear.

"Mostly?" Hermione asked as she stared into Iris' green eyes. "What else would you need?"

"I'm sure we can think of something," Iris said as she leaned in a bit more, noticing that Hermione was mirroring her movements now. She could feel Hermione's soft breath on her lips, and then...

 **BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!**

Both witches jumped apart at the sound, and Iris cursed quietly as she fumbled to get her phone out. Neither noticed the waiter — the same one from last time, who had immediately recognized the couple when they came in — close his eyes and slowly shake his head in resignation.

"What on earth is that?" Hermione asked, annoyed at the incredibly ill-timed interruption.

"S.H.I.E.L.D.," Iris said. "I turned off the sound, but their alerts can't be turned off unless I shut down the phone entirely."

"Is something wrong?" Hermione asked, more concerned than annoyed now.

"I don't know," Iris said slowly. "It's a message from Coulson." She took a moment to read the message, then looked up at Hermione with her lopsided smile. "Fancy a trip to New Mexico?"


End file.
